Curtly Ambrose, a former West Indian cricketer, took 26 five-wicket hauls at international level.^[2][3] In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer"^[4]) refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement,^[5] and only 41 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.^[3] Ambrose played 98 Tests and 176 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 405 and 225 wickets respectively.^[2] 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.^[6][7] 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.^[8] Upon his induction into the International Cricket Council Cricket Hall of Fame in September 2011, ESPNcricinfo described Ambrose as "one of the finest bowlers of all time",^[9][10] and as of 2013 he is tenth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.^[3]

Ambrose made his Test debut in 1988 against Pakistan at the Bourda, Georgetown, a match the West Indies lost by 9 wickets.^[11] His first five-wicket haul came eight months later against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth; West Indies won the match by 169 runs.^[12] 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.^[13][14] 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.^[2][15] Ambrose achieved his 22 five-wicket hauls at 12 different grounds, including 11 at 9 different venues outside the West Indies.^[13][16] He was most successful against Australia and England taking eight five-wicket hauls each.^[13] He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions.^[17]

Ambrose made his ODI debut against Pakistan at the Sabina Park, Kingston, in March 1988.^[18] 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.^[19] Ambrose took three of his four one-day five-wicket hauls against Australia and one against Pakistan.^[19] As of 2013, he is joint tenth—with Dale Steyn—overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.^[3]

Key

Tests

Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Curtly Ambrose

No.	Date	Ground	Against	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	2 December 1988	WACA Ground, Perth	Australia	2	23.3	72	5	3.06	David Boon Graeme Wood Allan Border Steve Waugh Tim May	Won[12]
2	5 April 1990†‡	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	England	4	22.4	45	8	1.98	Alec Stewart Rob Bailey Gladstone Small Jack Russell Nasser Hussain David Capel Phillip DeFreitas Devon Malcolm	Won[14]
3	6 December 1990	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	Pakistan	2	20	35	5	1.75	Zahid Fazal Rameez Raja Imran Khan Wasim Akram Moin Khan	Drawn[21]
4	6 June 1991	Headingley, Leeds	England	3	28	52	6	1.85	Michael Atherton Graeme Hick Allan Lamb Mark Ramprakash Robin Smith Jack Russell	Lost[22]
5	4 July 1991†	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	England	1	34	74	5	2.17	Michael Atherton Graeme Hick Allan Lamb Mark Ramprakash Richard Illingworth	Won[23]
6	18 April 1992†[n 1]	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	South Africa	4	24.4	34	6	1.37	Andrew Hudson Mark Rushmere Hansie Cronje Dave Richardson Meyrick Pringle Allan Donald	Won[24]
7	27 November 1992	The Gabba, Brisbane	Australia	3	32	66	5	2.06	Steve Waugh Mark Waugh Damien Martyn Greg Matthews Merv Hughes	Drawn[25]
8	23 January 1993†‡	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	Australia	2	28.2	74	6	2.61	Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Allan Border Ian Healy Tim May Craig McDermott	Won[26]
9	30 January 1993†	WACA Ground, Perth	Australia	1	18	25	7	1.38	David Boon Mark Waugh Damien Martyn Allan Border Ian Healy Merv Hughes Jo Angel	Won[27]
10	25 March 1994*†‡	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	England	2	29	60	5	2.06	Alec Stewart Robin Smith Graham Thorpe Jack Russell Chris Lewis	Won[15]
11	25 March 1994*†‡	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	England	4	10	24	6	2.40	Michael Atherton Alec Stewart Robin Smith Graeme Hick Graham Thorpe Jack Russell	Won[15]
12	21 April 1995†	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	Australia	1	16	45	5	2.81	Mark Taylor David Boon Mark Waugh Shane Warne Glenn McGrath	Won[28]
13	24 August 1995	The Oval, London	England	1	42	96	5	2.28	Jason Gallian Graham Thorpe Alan Wells Jack Russell Dominic Cork	Drawn[29]
14	27 April 1996	Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's	New Zealand	2	32	68	5	2.12	Roger Twose Danny Morrison Nathan Astle Chris Harris Lee Germon	Drawn[30]
15	26 December 1996†	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	1	24.5	55	5	2.21	Mark Taylor Matthew Hayden Mark Waugh Ian Healy Glenn McGrath	Won[31]
16	1 February 1997†	WACA Ground, Perth	Australia	1	18	43	5	2.38	Matthew Hayden Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Ian Healy Paul Reiffel	Won[32]
17	14 March 1997	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	India	2	41.4	87	5	2.08	V.V.S. Laxman Navjot Singh Sidhu Rahul Dravid Mohammad Azharuddin Sunil Joshi	Drawn[33]
18	13 June 1997†	Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's	Sri Lanka	1	13.1	37	5	2.81	Roshan Mahanama Russel Arnold Aravinda de Silva Kumar Dharmasena Sajeewa de Silva	Won[34]
19	5 February 1998†	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	England	3	19.5	52	5	2.62	Adam Hollioake Jack Russell Andrew Caddick Angus Fraser Phil Tufnell	Won[35]
20	13 February 1998	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	England	2	15.4	25	5	1.59	Michael Atherton John Crawley Dean Headley Angus Fraser Phil Tufnell	Lost[36]
21	10 December 1998	St George's Oval, Port Elizabeth	South Africa	3	19	51	6	2.68	Herschelle Gibbs Jacques Kallis Jonty Rhodes Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher Pat Symcox	Lost[37]
22	3 April 1999	Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's	Australia	1	29.5	94	5	3.15	Ricky Ponting Ian Healy Adam Dale Stuart MacGill Glenn McGrath	Won[38]

One Day Internationals

Five-wicket hauls in ODI cricket by Curtly Ambrose

No.	Date	Ground	Against	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	15 December 1988†	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	2	8.2	17	5	2.04	Geoff Marsh Mark Waugh Peter Taylor Craig McDermott Terry Alderman	Won[39]
2	14 January 1989	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Australia	1	10	26	5	2.60	Geoff Marsh David Boon Allan Border Steve Waugh Merv Hughes	Lost[40]
3	21 October 1991†	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah (neutral venue)	Pakistan	1	10	53	5	5.30	Rameez Raja Sajid Ali Javed Miandad Imran Khan Moin Khan	Lost[41]
4	16 January 1993†	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Australia	2	9.3	32	5	3.36	Mark Taylor David Boon Ian Healy Tony Dodemaide Craig McDermott	Won[42]