Ambrose joins elite 400th Test wicket club
By Graham Griffiths
LEEDS, England, (Reuters) - Curtly Ambrose captured his 400th Test wicket yesterday, becoming only the fifth bowler in cricket history to reach the landmark. The West Indies fast bowler completed the feat on the opening day of the fourth Test against England at Headingley. Ambrose joins team-mate Courtney Walsh (475 wickets), India's Kapil Dev (434), Richard Hadlee of New Zealand (431) and Pakistani Wasim Akram (407). Needing two more wickets to reach the milestone when the Test began, he dismissed England openers Marcus Trescothick for one and Michael Atherton for six, both caught at first slip by Brian Lara. Ambrose, playing in his 97th Test, whirled his arm in triumph when he took Atherton's wicket and was immediately surrounded by his joyous team-mates while the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Although acknowledging that getting to the milestone was a "nice feeling", Ambrose said: "This is not the greatest moment of my career. I have had some very satisfying spells for the West Indies. "I am happy that it is over and done with. I was not really fired up any more than usual ... I just felt the same as any other game. It was good to reach the landmark with Mike Atherton's wicket as we have had some battles over the years." Ambrose, whose trademark has been his unrelenting accuracy, has taken 159 wickets against England, eight short of Dennis Lillee's record of 167 against the same opponents. Asked for his next ambition, Ambrose said: "To try and win this Test match and the series because we have not been doing that well in recent years."
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