Curtly Ambrose there were rumours he planned to retire. He played in three times in the five-match ODI series, taking two wickets, and took a further two wickets in the first Test, which West Indies won. In "Wisden", Alan Lee described his performances at this time as "lethargic", and in the "Guardian", Paul Allott wrote that he bowled "like a shadow" owing to the effects of continuous cricket. Ambrose was ineffective at the start of the second Test, but recovered, ending the match with eight wickets; according to Lee, he "struck the critical blows of the match" in the first innings. In
History of the West Indian cricket team against Durham, which improved upon Hanif Mohammad's thirty-five-year-old record as the highest score in first-class cricket. The West Indian bowling attack was spearheaded by Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the latter setting a then world record of 519 wickets. However, these two had both retired by 2001, and their successors failed to maintain the high standards that Ambrose and Walsh had set. Despite the emergence of some good batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara remained the crucial figure of the side. After a 2–0 defeat by New Zealand in 1999–00, Lara was replaced as captain by Jimmy