Rivalry Week: Waugh v Ambrose

The rivalry

Not many bowlers got the better of Steve Waugh in the almost 500 games he played at international level, but Windies legend Curtly Ambrose certainly was one of them. The tall right-armer dismissed the Australian 16 times in his career (the next highest is six) at a time when Waugh was considered among the top handful of batsmen in the world. But the Australian certainly gave as good as he got, notably in the famous 1995 series where Ambrose - try as he might - couldn't dismiss the right-hander once over four enthralling Tests.

The numbers

Matches played: 58 (23 Tests, 35 ODIs)
Times Ambrose dismissed Waugh: 16
Runs scored by Waugh: 2385 (four centuries, 13 fifties)

When Waugh beat Ambrose

One of the most famous on-field battles in the modern game, Waugh and Ambrose almost literally stood toe-to-toe in a fiery Test match in Trinidad that would be remembered as a turning point in world cricket's power struggle. The Windies, unbeaten for 15 years, trailed 1-0 in the series when they sent the Aussies in on a seamer's paradise and promptly removed them for just 128 inside 50 overs on the first day. The only Australian not dismissed, the only batsman to score more than 20, was the defiant Waugh, who stood his ground in more ways than one as Ambrose picked up a five-wicket haul. The flashpoint came in the 14th over when Waugh, believing Ambrose's trademark post-bouncer glare had gone on "for longer than was necessary", politely told the fired-up quick to return to the top of his mark. A remark that required Ambrose to be physically restrained by his captain in order for cricket's status as a non-contact sport to remain intact. Ambrose and the Windies would win that match comfortably, but Waugh's defiant stance came to define the tour; he scored an unbeaten double hundred a week later as his side won the series 2-1 and assumed the mantle as the best team in the world.

When Ambrose beat Waugh

Having been dropped in early 1991 and replaced by his twin brother, Steve Waugh returned to the Australian Test side for the 1992-93 series against the West Indies aiming to prove a point. But his plan to re-establish himself in the side was hampered by a rampant Ambrose, who was beginning to emerge as one of the best bowlers of his generation. The right-armer removed Waugh twice in Brisbane and once more in Melbourne before the Australian responded with a gritty century at the SCG, a 207-ball knock that was ultimately ended by - you guessed it - Ambrose. That hundred in Sydney would be the only time Waugh passed 50 for the series as he was dismissed twice more by the Windies giant in Adelaide before he somehow avoided falling to him again in Perth as Ambrose produced his famous spell of 7-1 in a series-sealing victory.

What they said

"No-one had ever been stupid enough to speak to him like that. His eyeballs were spinning and as he edged to within a metre, it seemed he was ready to erupt. At this point, I gave him a short but sweet reply that went down about as well as an anti-malaria tablet. Fortunately, Richie Richardson moved in swiftly to avert what could have been my death by strangulation, and the game continued." - Waugh on his famous 1995 run-in with Ambrose.