ICC inducts former Windies great Curtly Ambrose into Hall of Fame

London, Sep. 13 :The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Federation of International Cricketers'' Associations (FICA) on Monday inducted former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose into the Hall of Fame in London.
The former West Indies fast bowler was inducted along with other Australian fast bowlers Frederick Spofforth and Alan Davidson and former batsman of the Australian Women''s cricket team Belinda Clark.
"This award means a lot to me. I have toiled longer enough for 12 and half years representing the West Indies and this award is just like the icing on the cake. It simply tells me that all my hard work and my dedication to cricket didn''t go unnoticed and I''m very very happy to be inducted into the ICC hall of fame among a group of elite players," said Ambrose.
It was in 2009 that the ICC launched the Hall of Fame in association with the FICA.
Batsmen used to dread facing Ambrose as he was one of the most lethal pace bowler, who had taken 405 Test wickets at an average of 20.99.
Ambrose expressed his disappointment over the current state of cricket in West Indies.
"It hurts me to say this, but it''s a fact, I''m a realist, that it is going to take a lot more years for West Indies Cricket to get anywhere near they once were. I believe that the Cricket Board in the West Indies made some mistakes. This is my opinion. I believe that when we were the best team in the world, nothing was ever done, nothing was put in place to nurture the talent that we have coming up. I believe our cricket board and the authorities believe that we could forever produce great cricketers," said the fast bowler.
Ambrose was all praise for Indian batsman and one of the world''s greatest cricketers, Sachin Tendulkar.
"My first thought was he (Sachin Tendulkar) should be in school, not on a cricket pitch really. So, I''m not really surprised that he has achieved so much in cricket. He''s a wonderful cricketer, very humble in my opinion, hardly ever shows any emotions until recently when he walked off. I''m very happy for him and he deserves all that he''s achieved in cricket," added Ambrose.
Ambrose recalled two of his most memorable performances, one was against England and the other one was against Australia. In the match against England, Ambrose scalped six wickets by merely giving twenty-four runs. The match against England was played at Trinindad in 1993.
In the match against Australia, Ambrose guided his team to win the series as he took seven wickets for merely 25 runs. The match was played at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) in the earlier season.
The West Indian fast bowler played in 176 One Day Internationals and took 225 wickets at an average of 24.12.
The Antigua born fast bowler expressed his happiness for being inducted in the Hall of Fame as he believed that his hard work was given due recognition.
Some of the other players who had made their way to the Hall of Fame earlier included Bishan Bedi, Allan Border, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Vivian Richards, Steve Waugh and Wasim Akram.