Birmingham – Some things never change and few have been as enduring incricket as Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose persecuting theopposition, most notably England, in the cause of the West Indies

Tony Cozier16-Jun-2000Birmingham – Some things never change and few have been as enduring incricket as Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose persecuting theopposition, most notably England, in the cause of the West Indies.They were at it again here yesterday on the opening day of theirlatest encounter, combining with a little help from their youngeraccomplices to dismiss England for an unsatisfactory 179.It was the ideal platform on which their batsmen could build.Even if the loss of the two young left-handers, Chris Gayle and WavellHinds, in the closing 19 overs were disappointing setbacks, SherwinCampbell’s solid start and Brian Lara’s presence encourage optimismwhen the West Indies restart this morning at 50 for two.England, predictably sent in after Jimmy Adams won the toss on a fine,if cloudy, day, were first throttled by Ambrose’s unerring accuracyand then picked off, one by one, by Walsh’s clinical each-way movementin the conditions they have grown to know and love after severalseasons of Test and county cricket.The story line had been repeatedly played out through their lengthyassociation.This was Walsh’s 118th Test and his seventh series against England.His return of five for 36 from 21 overs was the 21st time he hasclaimed at least half the opposition wickets in Tests, the third timein successive Tests. He has now done it a staggering 101 times in allfirst-class cricket.At 37, Walsh continues to confound the theory that international sportis for the young. So does Ambrose, a year his junior, in his 94thTest, and his fifth Wisden Trophy Series against England.Ambrose’s reward for 20.5 overs that cost him a miserly 32 runs wasone wicket. It was a deceptive statistic. The pressure his accuracyexerted contributed significantly to the outcome of the innings.Franklyn Rose delivered one outstanding spell, in which he repeatedlydefeated the left-handed Nick Knight, England’s modest topscorer with26, and dismissed captain Nasser Hussain to a gloved catch to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.But Reon King, so consistently of late the fastest and morepenetrative of the apostles, had an off-day.Lacking his necessary rhythm to such an extent that he delivered awide and his first two no-balls in Test cricket, as well as four timesaborting his ap-proach, he was taken for 60 runs and 11 fours in 14.1overs.Had the support been more effective, England would not have got as faras they did.They had been reduced to 112 for seven when Knight and Andy Flintoffwere dismissed in successive overs but the tail put together afurther, valuable 67 against wayward bowling.Ambrose and Walsh were bowling for the first time on tour, havingtaken required rest after their exertions in the preceding seriesagainst Zimbabwe and Pakistan in the Caribbean.Ambrose was on target from his first over, offering nothing in widthand length.Like a vintage Rolls Royce just emerging from storage, Walsh needed alittle more time to function again on all cylinders.It was, in fact, an hour and six overs. Suddenly, his engine began topurr with a satisfying and familiar precision.As he explained afterwards, he assessed the lack of pace in the pitch,trimmed his miles-per-hour accordingly and settled for control andmovement.Mark Ramprakash, who had taken 17 of the 20 runs Walsh conceded untilthen, edged a lifter off just short of a length into his pad and Hindsat short-leg accepted the rebound.Atherton, opening out with three hooked fours and another on-drivenwhen King relieved Ambrose, felt for one from Walsh that left himsharply and Ridley Jacobs gathered in the thick edge.Graeme Hick, who has never been comfortable against West Indies fastbowling since his first Test against them in 1991 ‘ when Walsh andAmbrose were still young men ‘ lasted only seven balls.With his feet static, he, too, edged Walsh’s leg-cutter. Gayle atthird slip spilled the offering but Campbell saved embarrassment withalert reaction to gather the rebound.England lunched at 51 for three, Walsh bowling unchanged for a returnof 13-5-23-3 in the morning. They continued to subside afterwards.The West Indies were left with 19 tricky overs for the rest of theevening.The challenge proved too great for Gayle and Hinds, in their firstTests in England and unaccustomed to such conditions.Gayle slashed Caddick to fine gully where Flintoff dropped him and wasthen plainly lbw to Gough’s inswinger.Hinds began with a confident flourish, driving Gough square for fourand lifting Caddick through mid-off for another.But Edgbaston is not Kensington, the ball does not come onto the batstraight, and his aerial drive off Caddick was plucked out by Hussain.It left Campbell and Lara to see out the day. They achieved theirgoal. Their real work lies ahead today.