Curtly Ambrose confident West Indies can beat Australia
West Indies might have begun their tour of Australia with a humiliating loss in a tour game, but that seems to have done nothing to dent the confidence of Curtly Ambrose, who believes the Windies can beat Australia on their home turf.
“We're not going to worry about what has been said about us not being a good team or not going to compete,” Ambrose said. “At the end of the day when we perform and beat Australia, then the reporters will have to change their tune.
Ambrose pointed to Australia’s tour of West Indies earlier in the year as proof that the No.3 ranked Test side in the world, is not infallible, even if they arrive on the back of an impressive 2-0 win over New Zealand.
“We played against Australia not so long ago in the Caribbean and even though we lost 2-0 there were moments or periods when we had them on the back foot and had their backs against the wall. And we never really finished them off.
“So we believe we can compete and not only compete but we believe we can beat them and that's our focus to beat Australia. Not just to compete but to win and, being the underdogs, sometimes it's good to be that way.
“We have nothing to lose. As far as I'm concerned the Australians are the ones under pressure. They have to beat us because Australians and cricket in general expect them to steamroll us. So they're the ones who are under pressure, not us. And we’re going to put up a good show.”
Ambrose, who is currently with the side as the bowling consultant said the discussions between the players and the coaching staff after the defeat as a sign that they acknowledge the magnitude of the task ahead of them.
"We had a meeting, we had a talk about it," Ambrose said. "And I explained to the guys in no uncertain terms that that's unacceptable and if we're going to struggle against an Under-19 team how do we expect to compete against a strong Australian line-up?
"But we had a good meeting. Coach Phil Simmons called a meeting and we talked about a lot of things and I expect that, going forward, what's gone already cannot be changed. So we've got to stay focused and move forward. I believe strongly that we're going to put up a better show against Australia.”
Ambrose, who took part in last month’s All-Stars Series believes that the players are focused on the task at hand after an insipid display in Brisbane against the CA XI.
"Well first of all we're not going to be distracted by those comments," said Ambrose. "We're here to do a job and we're going to make a good job of it.
“Being here alone should be more than enough motivation for the players but having heard or read those comments should be added motivation for them to prove the critics [wrong], if you will. We are not really distracted. We're focused and in light of what happened in the warm up game, we are confident that we can put up a good show against Australia.”
Before adding that he, along with the coaching staff will do whatever they can “to put up a good show here”.
“I believe, once the guys are focused, we're going to do well. We're going to do much better than you think.”