Curtly Ambrose, a former West Indian cricketer, took 26 five-wicket hauls at international level. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Ambrose played 98 Tests and 176 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 405 and 225 wickets respectively. A right-arm fast bowler who represented the West Indies from 1988 to 2000, he took 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests and 4 in ODIs. The cricket almanack Wisden noted his "smooth, leggy run-up, fast arm action and accuracy", apart from "lethal yorker[s]" and "nasty bouncer[s]", and named him one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1992. Upon his induction into the International Cricket Council Cricket Hall of Fame in September 2011, Cricinfo described Ambrose as "one of the finest bowlers of all time", and as of 2013 he is tenth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.

Ambrose made his Test debut in 1988 against Pakistan at the Bourda, Georgetown, a match the West Indies lost by 9 wickets. His first five-wicket haul came eight months later against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth; West Indies won the match by 169 runs. His career-best bowling figures for an innings were 8 wickets for 45 runs against England at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, in April 1990 where his match-winning performance earned him a man of the match award. Ambrose took his solitary pair of five-wicket hauls in a Test match—5 wickets for 60 runs and 6 wickets for 24 runs—against the same opponents at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, in March 1994, his best bowling performance in a Test match. Ambrose achieved his 22 five-wicket hauls at 12 different grounds, including 11 at 9 different venues outside the West Indies. He was most successful against Australia and England taking eight five-wicket hauls each. He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions.

Ambrose made his ODI debut against Pakistan at the Sabina Park, Kingston, in March 1988. His first five-wicket haul in this format came later that year against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he took 5 wickets for 17 runs in the match, his best performance in ODI matches. Ambrose took three of his four one-day five-wicket hauls against Australia and one against Pakistan. As of 2013, he is joint tenth—with Dale Steyn—overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.

Key

Symbol Meaning Date Date the match was held, or starting date of the match for Test matches Inn The innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken Overs Number of overs bowled in that innings Runs Runs conceded Wkts Number of wickets taken Batsmen The batsmen whose wickets were taken in the five-wicket haul Econ Bowling economy rate (average runs per over) Result The result for the West Indies team in that match One of two five-wicket hauls by Ambrose in a match Ambrose selected as "Man of the match" 10 wickets or more taken in the match Drawn The match was drawn

Tests + Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Curtly AmbroseNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 WACA Ground, Perth David Boon Graeme Wood Allan Border Steve Waugh Tim May Won 2 Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Alec Stewart Rob Bailey Gladstone Small Jack Russell Nasser Hussain David Capel Phillip DeFreitas Devon Malcolm Won 3 Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Zahid Fazal Rameez Raja Imran Khan Wasim Akram Moin Khan Drawn 4 Headingley, Leeds Michael Atherton Graeme Hick Allan Lamb Mark Ramprakash Robin Smith Jack Russell Lost 5 Trent Bridge, Nottingham Michael Atherton Graeme Hick Allan Lamb Mark Ramprakash Richard Illingworth Won 6 The man of the match award was shared between Ambrose and Hudson. Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Andrew Hudson Mark Rushmere Hansie Cronje Dave Richardson Meyrick Pringle Allan Donald Won 7 The Gabba, Brisbane Steve Waugh Mark Waugh Damien Martyn Greg Matthews Merv Hughes Drawn 8 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Allan Border Ian Healy Tim May Craig McDermott Won 9 WACA Ground, Perth David Boon Mark Waugh Damien Martyn Allan Border Ian Healy Merv Hughes Jo Angel Won 10 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Alec Stewart Robin Smith Graham Thorpe Jack Russell Chris Lewis Won 11 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Michael Atherton Alec Stewart Robin Smith Graeme Hick Graham Thorpe Jack Russell Won 12 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Mark Taylor David Boon Mark Waugh Shane Warne Glenn McGrath Won 13 The Oval, London Jason Gallian Graham Thorpe Alan Wells Jack Russell Dominic Cork Drawn 14 Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's Roger Twose Danny Morrison Nathan Astle Chris Harris Lee Germon Drawn 15 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Mark Taylor Matthew Hayden Mark Waugh Ian Healy Glenn McGrath Won 16 WACA Ground, Perth Matthew Hayden Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Ian Healy Paul Reiffel Won 17 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain V.V.S. Laxman Navjot Singh Sidhu Rahul Dravid Mohammad Azharuddin Sunil Joshi Drawn 18 Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's Roshan Mahanama Russel Arnold Aravinda de Silva Kumar Dharmasena Sajeewa de Silva Won 19 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Adam Hollioake Jack Russell Andy Caddick Angus Fraser Phil Tufnell Won 20 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Michael Atherton John Crawley Dean Headley Angus Fraser Phil Tufnell Lost 21 St George's Oval, Port Elizabeth Herschelle Gibbs Jacques Kallis Jonty Rhodes Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher Pat Symcox Lost 22 Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's Ricky Ponting Ian Healy Adam Dale Stuart MacGill Glenn McGrath Won

One Day Internationals + Five-wicket hauls in ODI cricket by Curtly AmbroseNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Geoff Marsh Mark Waugh Peter Taylor Craig McDermott Terry Alderman Won 2 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Geoff Marsh David Boon Allan Border Steve Waugh Merv Hughes Lost 3 Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah(neutral venue) Rameez Raja Sajid Ali Javed Miandad Imran Khan Moin Khan Lost 4 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Mark Taylor David Boon Ian Healy Tony Dodemaide Craig McDermott Won

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