This story is from July 25, 2016

'Curtly Ambrose, a telephone pole of a pacer'

At a reunion party at Seatons village in the Saint Phillip area of Antigua, one runs into a middle aged man wearing the maroon West Indies cricket shirt. He introduces himself as Adrian Adams, a former cricketer who played for the Antigua team in local cricket.
'Curtly Ambrose, a telephone pole of a pacer'
West indies bowling coach Curtly Ambrose. (TOI Photo)
ANTIGUA: At a reunion party at Seatons village in the Saint Phillip area of Antigua, one runs into a middle aged man wearing the maroon West Indies cricket shirt. He introduces himself as Adrian Adams, a former cricketer who played for the Antigua team in local cricket.
"I played alongside people like Richie Richardson and Curtly Ambrose," Adrian warms up to the cricket-centric conversation.

"I was a pretty serious cricketer in my youth," he recalls amid the blaring sound from the huge speakers which stand in the corner of the football ground where the small party is on. About Curtly Ambrose, he recalls, "He was young and stood like a telephone pole (Ambrose is 6'7"). And he made us batsmen hurry.... The first time I faced him, I remember, before I could bring my bat up, he whizzed past my ears. That was in early 1980s. He was quick man."
Carnival time, but not for cricket
Stands at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds continued to be virtually empty even as the Indian team was putting up an impressive show in the first Test here at North Sound, Antigua. It's a stadium which can hold up to 20,000 fans. But there weren't more than 300 fans on any of the four days of the Test. The grass banks on both sides of the wicket have been completely empty.
Nobody was expecting a handsome turnout as it is as there is dwindling interest in Test cricket here. But what has further affected the turnout is the fact that it is carnival time in Antigua and people are more inclined to go there than come for a Test. "They would rather spend their money at the carnival than on cricket," says a local. "And the stadium in North Sound is situated out of the city which also puts people off," he adds.
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