# List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Curtly Ambrose

Curtly Ambrose, a former West Indian cricketer, took 26 five-wicket hauls at international level. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of October 2024, only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Ambrose played 98 Tests and 176 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 405 and 225 wickets respectively. 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. 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. 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", and as of 2013 he is tenth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.
Ambrose made his Test debut in 1988 against Pakistan at the Bourda, Georgetown, a match the West Indies lost by 9 wickets. His first five-wicket haul came eight months later against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth; West Indies won the match by 169 runs. 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. 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. Ambrose achieved his 22 five-wicket hauls at 12 different grounds, including 11 at 9 different venues outside the West Indies. He was most successful against Australia and England taking eight five-wicket hauls each. He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions.
Ambrose made his ODI debut against Pakistan at the Sabina Park, Kingston, in March 1988. 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. Ambrose took three of his four one-day five-wicket hauls against Australia and one against Pakistan. As of 2013, he is joint tenth—with Dale Steyn—overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.

## Key

| Symbol | Meaning |
| Date | Date the match was held, or starting date of the match for Test matches |
| Inn | The innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken |
| Overs | Number of overs bowled in that innings |
| Runs | Runs conceded |
| Wkts | Number of wickets taken |
| Batsmen | The batsmen whose wickets were taken in the five-wicket haul |
| Econ | Bowling economy rate (average runs per over) |
| Result | The result for the West Indies team in that match |
| * | One of two five-wicket hauls by Ambrose in a match |
| † | Ambrose selected as "Man of the match" |
| ‡ | 10 wickets or more taken in the match |
| Drawn | The match was drawn |

## 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 6 | 18 April 1992† | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 19 | 5 February 1998† | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | England | 3 | 19.5 | 52 | 5 | 2.62 | Adam Hollioake Jack Russell Andy Caddick Angus Fraser Phil Tufnell | Won |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |

## 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |