Curtly Ambrose Destroys England at Port-of-Spain 1994

Curtly Ambrose was at his peak in the early-to-mid 1990s — 6ft 7 of fast bowling precision who combined extreme height with a skiddy, lifting pace that made length deliveries rear to shoulder height. He was not the fastest bowler in the world but arguably the hardest to score off or survive.

Graham Gooch had been England's cornerstone batsman through the late 1980s and early 1990s — his 333 at Lord's in 1990 one of the great innings. But by 1994 he was 40 years old and at the end of his Test career.

England arrived in Trinidad looking to avoid losing the series. They had faced Ambrose in the earlier Tests and survived reasonably. The fourth Test seemed well-balanced until Ambrose's second-innings spell.

The famous story goes that Steve Waugh, batting for Australia in a different match, had once removed his wristband at Ambrose's request to avoid possible distraction. In this match, Ambrose was reportedly distracted by something similar and when he felt disrespected, something clicked into overdrive. The story may be apocryphal but the spell was real.

In the fourth Test at Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad, Curtly Ambrose produced one of cricket's most devastating bowling spells. He took 6 wickets for just 24 runs in 10 overs as England were bowled out for 46 in their second innings — their lowest Test total since 1887. Graham Gooch, England's most prolific scorer at the time with over 8,000 Test runs, was one of Ambrose's victims. The spell began after Steve Waugh had asked Ambrose to remove his wristband — Ambrose, taking offence, switched to an unplayable gear. England had come to the match needing to avoid defeat to stay in the series; they were bowled out for 46 inside 19 overs.

“That was the best I ever bowled. Everything I tried came off. When you're in that zone, you can't really explain it — you just keep going.”

“Ambrose was unplayable. The ball was lifting to your chin from a length you could normally drive. There was no good answer.”

“This is extraordinary. Ambrose is making batting look impossible.”

England's 46 all out haunted English cricket for years. Post-mortems questioned England's preparation, temperament, and technique against short-pitched fast bowling. Several players retired or were dropped following the tour.

Ambrose said afterwards it was the best he had ever bowled — that every delivery had gone exactly where he intended. For Gooch, the dismissal was one of his last major Test innings before retirement.