5 most devastating fast-bowling spells in Test cricket

#3 Curtly Ambrose decimates England, Port of Spain, 1994

Curtly Ambrose, Port of Spain, 1994

At a time when the West Indies were still an excellent side, England seemed to be on the verge of a rare victory against them at Port of Spain back in 1994. They needed 194 to win the Test match but the absolute mayhem that Curly Ambrose unleashed on them saw them collapse in a heap.

In a spell that lasted all of 10 overs, Ambrose toyed with the English batsmen and they had no answer to his pace, bounce and seam movement. The innings lasted only 19.1 overs and as one batsman after another went back to the pavilion in a state of shock, England's collapse became a foregone conclusion.

After Ambrose took the wicket of 1st innings top scorer Graham Thorpe by destroying his stumps, England were reduced to 40-8, eventually crumbling for 46. It remains one of the most devastating spells of fast bowling ever been witnessed in Test cricket.

Writing about this spell in his book Supreme Bowling: 100 Great Test Performances, sports writer Rob Smyth explained, “This wasn’t a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory; they’d had glory snatched from them in exchange for humiliation. They never ever saw it coming at all.”