Battle with Ambrose and the match that made Steve Waugh a 'Test player'

Curtly Ambrose was a great bowler and he was an incredible adversary, and my most respected opponent, says Steve Waugh

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh said that his double hundred against the West Indies in Jamaica during the 1995 Test made him a player. Waugh scored 200 against a West Indies attack that was spearheaded by Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Waugh credited coach Bob Simpson with helping him find his form.

"The West Indies innings made me as a player and probably goes back to Bob Simpson. He doesn't get a lot of credit. After the first couple of Tests, he sat our group of batsmen down and he said 'this is not good enough'," Waugh told former England captain Mike Atherton in an interview for Sky Sports.

"Somewhere, one of you guys need to go and get a big hundred, and we said 'well, hang on look, why don't you go and try this, those are four quicks, and we are doing our best'.
 

"But I walked away from that meeting and I thought 'maybe there is something in what he is saying. Are we tough enough? Can we break through and get that big score'.

"That happened in the 200 I scored in Jamaica. Sometimes you need to be told the truth and he told us 'you are soft, and need to do better'. And getting that 200 was the highlight of my career, against the best team in the world that had been unbeaten in 15 years."

 

Waugh had his famous confrontation with Ambrose in the previous Test. He was all praise for the West Indies fast bowling great, calling him an "incredible adversary."

"Curtly Ambrose was a great bowler. He was an incredible adversary and my most respected opponent. He never said anything to you, and that was worse than sledging. You didn't know what he was thinking, is he trying to get me out, or is he going to hurt me," he said.

"That's worse than someone telling you what they are going to do. He was always there on the good length, and his short ball was always on the throat. He was an incredible competitor."