Ambrose-Walsh Led Windies Pace Attack Of 90s Had Seam Bowling Luxuries A Plenty

Besides the deadly pace bowling duo of Ambrose and Walsh, the Windies boasted of seam bowling luxuries who were highly successful in white ball cricket all through the 90s.

International cricket fondly remembers the fearsome West Indian pace battery which operated in full steam during the 70s and 80s and were an indispensable component of all-conquering Windies team that  extended its hegemony in both Tests and ODI cricket for over two decades. However, the Windies seam bowling attack of the 90s was pretty menacing and was hailed as one of the most potent pace units alongside Wasim-Waqar led Pakistani fast bowling battery, McGrath-Gillespie led Australian seam attack and Donald-Pollock spearheaded South African pace attack. Inheriting a glorious legacy of legendary seam bowling from Joel Garner to Michael Holding, Andy Roberts to Malcolm Marshall;  all of whom who wreaked havoc against the best of batting line-ups, the West Indies pace attack of the 90s was spearheaded by arguably the most lethal seam duo of their era  in Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. The giant like seamers with a stocky built steamed into the bowling crease with long run-ups and extracted genuine pace and bounce to run through formidable batting line-ups at will and craft many a wins for  the 'Maroon Brigade'. While Walsh possessing tremendous stamina was the untiring horse who could bowl day in and day out with consistent lines to choke the batsmen, the electrifying yet eccentric Ambrose was an outright strike weapon who produced fiery game changing spells to decimate the opposition. Besides the deadly Ambrose and Walsh duo, the Windies boasted of seam bowling luxuries who were highly successful in white ball cricket. For the early part of the 90s, the fast and fiery Patrick Patterson was still very much a threat and they had a tearaway seamer in Ian Bishop, who many considered the quickest in his time.  Unfortunately recurring injuries cut short Bishop's very promising career. The Benjamin lads were equal to the task of performing the role of the third seamer to perfection. Both Keneeth and Winston racked up some serious pace and were more than handy on pitches that offered true pace and bounce. Otis Gibson had his moments under the sun with some match winning spells in a relatively short career and Cameron Cuffy always delivered the goods with his pacy and accurate bowling in the limited overs arena. Towards the end of the 90s, a new crop of seamers emerged who possessed the repertoire in their armoury to excel at the highest level and become the flag bearers of the Windies pace bowling legacy . Prominent among those were Mervyn Dillon, Nixon Mclean, Reon King,  Franklyn Rose, Pedro Collins and Correy Collymore. Merv Dillon was hailed a successor to the great Courtney Walsh and became the spearhead of the Windies pace  attack once Ambrose and Walsh faded away.  Nixon Mclean, Reon King and  Franklyn Rose produced some match winning spells with their extra yard of pace but lacked the consistency of their illustrious predecessors to perform at the highest level for long. The Windies may not have been as dominating as what they were at the peak of their prowess back in the 70-80s but had quite a few great exponents of pace bowling whom the best of batsmen dreaded to face all through the 90s.