Curtly Ambrose in "Wisden", to describe Ambrose as "a shadow of his former self". Any danger that Ambrose might have retired after this series was forestalled when Brian Lara was appointed West Indies captain and immediately spoke to Ambrose and Walsh to ask them to continue in the team. When England toured the West Indies between January and April 1998, he took 30 wickets at 14.26 to top the bowling averages for the series. Many of the pitches during the tour were poor for batting, but Ambrose was very effective, particularly in the second, third and fourth Tests. In addition, he dismissed
West Indian cricket team in England in 1995 defeat in the Ashes series in Australia was considered a real disappointment, and ultimately led to the dismissal of Team Manager Keith Fletcher. Long-serving former captains Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting retired from International cricket after the tour, having had disappointing campaigns. The West Indians' home defeat by the Australians was a more closely fought affair, with Brian Lara (308 runs at 44) Curtly Ambrose (20 wickets at 21.55) and Courtney Walsh (13 at 19.84) all performing strongly against a touring team shorn of the injured Craig McDermott, but with strong back-up in the form of Glenn McGrath and Paul