The fact that Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose had a famed aggressive bowling partnership doesn’t stop them from being remarkably relaxed about how they are remembered.
When asked about his modern-day predecessors, in an interview with Betway, Ambrose said that he loved to see fast bowlers doing well, being a part of the fast bowling fraternity. He also claimed that it’s a pleasure for him to see bowler doing better than “former greats.”
Walsh’s take on the subject was that what Jimmy Anderson and Stuey Broad have done is tremendous and he hopes that another partnership will come along that will be even better.
Both of them have always been this way. Both talk sincerely about how they were never invested in their own egos or legacies. The Walsh and Ambrose duo was fast and impressive with the new ball and played a great role in the team’s success between 1988 and 2000. They played a total of 230 Test matches. Their individual wicket-taking tallies were: 405 for Ambrose and 519 for Walsh, adding up to total 924.
Ambrose mentioned that their friendship didn’t start from when he made the team. In 1990 they became roommates, and that is when they learnt a lot more about each other, and their partnership really bloomed.
Walsh replied that they would have good nights where we’d have dinner together; they’d chat and discuss other things than just cricket. It helped them in understanding each other and their perspective on things. They have done the openings for bowling together in 52 Test matches, sending 412 batsmen back on their way. There are only two new-ball partnerships that have been able to manage more scalps.
Ambrose said in an interview when asked about what kept their relationship going on and off the field that it doesn’t have any magic or secret. He articulated that when Walsh was taking wickets, he simply made sure to maintain the same pressure from the same end and Walsh would do the same for him.
Walsh added that they looked after each other. Walsh would look to Ambrose from the boundary and tell him what he had seen or noticed. And Ambrose would do the same for him.
They surely had been competitive bowlers, but even if they kept tally of who got how many wickets in a day, it was not done with ego and simply to push each other on. Walsh stated that they would always have a smile, seeing who was going to get the most wickets that day.
Ambrose added that if he took ten wickets in a Test match and they lost, it was a waste of time and he loved winning.
As Anderson and Broad are preparing for what is going be their final Ashes series as a duo, the greatest fast-bowling partnership of all time will be profoundly debated. The duo of Walsh and Ambrose will surely be in the blend, but they won’t really care about results.
