Things That Have Changed In Cricket Between The Time Curtly Ambrose And Kemar Roach Crossed The 200-Wicket Mark For West Indies In Test Cricket

And, so it finally happened. After 26 years, four months and seven days since Curtly Ambrose scored the 200-wicket mark, West Indies finally have a fast bowler who has more 200 scalps to his name in the form of Kemar Roach.

Roach completed the feat when he dismissed Chris Woakes on the second morning of the third Test against England in Manchester.

26 years is a long long time. And, a plethora of things have changed in life since then. Of course, cricket is not an exception.

Here’s a look at some of the things which changed between the time Curtly Ambrose and Kemar Roach reached their 200-Test wickets respectively:

Australia’s domination in 50-over World Cups’ was still some years away

Australia was still a few years away from kickstarting their domination in World Cup cricket when Curtly Ambrose claimed his 200th Test wicket.

Up until that point, West Indies were still the most successful team in World Cup cricket thanks to their back-to-back wins in 1975 and 1979.

Since then, Australia, who won their maiden World Cup in 1987, have successfully leapfrogged them, adding four more titles in their kitty- 1999, 2003, 2007 & 2015.

Sachin Tendulkar was yet to score his maiden ODI hundred

Yep! When Curtly Ambrose completed his 200th Test wicket against England in 1994, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was still searching for his elusive ODI hundred, not that him batting in the middle-order had helped his cause in the preceding years.

Interestingly, a week after Ambrose [17 March 1994 vs Engalnd] got his 200th wicket, Tendulkar’s ODI career underwent an inflection point when he smashed a 49-ball 82 during his debut as an opener against New Zealand.

And, six months later, the moment finally arrived when the ‘God of Cricket’ racked up his maiden ODI hundred- 110 vs Australia in Colombo.

Tendulkar would go on to add another 48 tons and the first-ever double-hundred in ODI cricket to his kitty before retiring as the leading run-scorer [18,426] in 2012, almost eight years before Kemar Roach’s 200th wicket.

Bangladesh, Afganistan, and Ireland weren’t Test-playing nations

Bangladesh- as a Test-playing nation- was still a distant dream when the last West Indian bowler before Kemar Roach, claimed 200 Test match wickets.

The Asian Tigers became a Test-playing nation at the turn of the century and since then they have gone on to play 119 five-day games. Two more countries- Afghanistan and Ireland- have received Test status between Curtly Ambrose and Kemar Roach getting to 200 wickets in 1994 and 2020 respectively.

Twenty20 was still nine years away from its birth

One of the biggest revolutions in the game, Twenty20 cricket wasn’t even in anyone’s thought process, the last time a bowler from the Caribbean crossed the 200 Test wicket landmark before Kemar Roach.

It was in 2003 that the fast-paced T20 format was introduced to the world with the introduction of the ‘Twenty20 Cup’ in the English domestic season. The format was conceptualized by ECB’s marketing manager Stuart Robertson, who following a nation-wide survey among fans found that they were only interested in watching the first and last overs of an ODI inning.

Robertson submitted his report stating that a new Twenty20 format had to be devised to bring the fans back to the game. Despite stern resistance from the purists, the proposal was voted in favor of the tournament with an 11-7 margin.

The first T20I game was played between Australia and New Zealand in 2005 but it was only after India’s win in the inaugural World Twenty20 and the subsequent launch of the IPL and other franchise-based leagues that the format’s popularity reached its zenith. The rest, as they say, is history.

The highest individual score still belonged to Gary Sobers

Sir Garfield Sobers’s record for highest individual score- 365 vs Pakistan in 1958- stood the test of time for 36 years but since Curtly Ambrose’s 200th Test wicket landmark, it has been breached three times- twice by Brian Lara.

Interestingly, Sobers’ record was broken in the same series where Ambrose became the last Windies bowler before Kemar Roach to join the 200-wicket club. Lara stroked a majestic 375 in the fifth Test of the same rubber against England.

The record stood for almost 10 years before Matthew Hayden smashed a whirlwind 380 against Zimbabwe. Lara, of course, got it back a few months later, once again against England as he became the first player to scale Mt.400 in Test cricket. The record has stayed with the ‘Prince’ since then.

West Indies were still the No.1 Test side in the world

West Indies were at their dominant best like they were in the 1980s by the time 1994 had rolled around but they were still the No.1 Test side in the world. They hadn’t lost a Test series for 15 years and were comfortable victors against England [3-1] in the 1994 home series- the same series where Curtly Ambrose crossed the 200 Test wicket mark and Brian Lara broke Sir Garfield Sobers’ record.

But, it came to an end in the following year when the Mark Taylor-led Australian team defeated the West Indies on their own turf to claim the rights for being the best side in the world. Australia went on to dominate world cricket for another decade and a half while West Indies underwent a consistent slump, which can be testified by the fact that it took more than two decades for a fast bowler from the Caribbean islands- the land of fast bowlers- to breach the 200-wicket mark.

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