Curtly Ambrose difficult situation, and in the third match, he scored his only half-century in Tests. He also took 20 first-class wickets for Leeward Islands. West Indies' next matches were in England. The Test series was drawn 2–2 and Ambrose was the team's leading wicket-taker with 28 (averaging 20.00); he also came top of the bowling averages. He had a particular impact on Graeme Hick, who was appearing in Test cricket for the first time, dismissing him six times in seven innings with short-pitched bowling. Accurate bowling was important in the series, played on a series of slow-paced pitches; according to Scyld
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