Windies pacemen not what they were - Ambrose

Former West Indies pace bowler Curtly Ambrose has criticised the team's current crop of pace bowlers, saying none of them could be compared with him.

Asked which of the players were closest to his quality, Ambrose told CANA news agency: "None."

He added: "They have the potential to become great fast bowlers like myself or Courtney Walsh, but they have a lot of work to do."

Ambrose, who retired last year after the West Indies tour of England, is one of the most successful bowlers of all time. He took 405 wickets during his career at 20.99, and also played in 176 one-dayers. Walsh took a world record 519 test wickets.

The team's decline from their glory days in the 1970s and early 80s was underlined in the 2000-01 season when they were whitewashed 5-0 in a test series in Australia before losing at home to South Africa.

Ambrose said he rated Australia's David Boon, Steve Waugh and Allan Border as well as England's Graham Gooch as the best batsmen he ever bowled to, while Pakistan's Wasim Akram was his number one fast bowler.

"He could do everything with the ball if fit," he said.

Mail Cricket Editor