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THE FOUR KNIGHTS OF ANTIGUAN CRICKET SIR CURTLY AMBROSE What was the highlight of your cricket career? In the beginning, it was playing my first game for Swetes, the village I’m from. Moving on to the Antigua national team was even more special as I was representing my country. After that, I started playing first-class cricket for the Leeward Islands cricket team. Of course, being chosen to play for the West Indies cricket team is the ultimate and brought me the most joy. What is your childhood memory of playing cricket? I never wanted to play cricket! When I say this, people always look at me strangely because I’ve been so successful at the game. However, I wanted to play basketball in the NBA! My mother, who loves cricket with a passion, forced me into playing cricket, and once I started, my career took off quickly. I have no regrets because playing for my country for so many years was a privilege and an honour.
SIR ANDY ROBERTS What was the highlight of your career? I had many highlights during my career between 1974 and 1983. The one that stands out is when the West Indies beat Australia in Australia for the first time, especially because I played a significant role in winning the third test match. Secondly was winning the 1975 World Cup. What is your childhood memory of playing cricket? When I was five or six, I used to go to the village and watch what we used to call a ‘ball game’. My mother always used to say, “There’s no future in ball game.” But the passion was deep inside of me. On Sundays, I used to get all my chores done quickly so that on the way to Sunday School, I could stop for a few hours to watch one a game. I was scared of the ball, so I only used to play with a tennis ball and didn’t use the harder ball until I was 16. Not many people could fast bowl a tennis ball, but I could, which certainly helped me later in life. How do you see the future of West Indies cricket? We dominated cricket for 15 consecutive years, which hasn’t been done in any team sport before or after. That was because of the love for the game. Today, I think we must start from the grassroots, ensuring that cricket is played in schools so children develop a love of it from a young age.
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How do you see the future of West Indies cricket? At one time, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, we were the best team in the world. We were unbeaten in a test series for 15 years. This is unheard of in any sport. From the mid-1990s, our success started to wane. But we are building back up, and although we are no longer the best team in the world, we are still full of naturally gifted players. I believe that we will get back to the top.
