"I think we set the bar" - Walsh and Ambrose on what it takes to form a fast bowling partnership

With Anderson and Broad's partnership soon to come to an end, The Cricketer hear from West Indian greats Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose about their own domination with the ball in hand

As James Anderson limped off the field at Edgbaston last Thursday morning, many thought that one of cricket's great fast-bowling partnerships may have just come to an end.

Regardless of whether Anderson ever regains full fitness, he and Stuart Broad will go down in history among the sport's most prolific opening combinations, joining the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

And Walsh says it was he and his great strike partner Ambrose who "set the bar".

"History will tell you that our records were broken, but it's good to be able to say that," the West Indies legend said.

The pair were an integral cog in the talented West Indian team of the 1990s. They took a combined 924 wickets in only 230 Test matches and were feared by batsmen worldwide. Their bowling was fast, accurate and nasty but the most difficult thing for batsmen to handle was that it was relentless.

"If he [Walsh] was taking wickets, then my job was simply to make sure I kept the same pressure from the same end." Ambrose said.

"If it was my day he would do the same."

Of Ambrose's 98 Test matches, there were only three in which Walsh didn't feature. The pair understood one another and used their competitive nature to get the best out of themselves.

"We would always have a smile, seeing who was going to get the most wickets that day." Walsh told Betway.

"Curtly was the sort of guy who said, 'let's see who can do things first'.

"But we looked after each other. I would look to him from the boundary and tell him what I had seen or what I had noticed. And he would do the same for me."

^{Courtney Walsh (left) and Curtly Ambrose (right) have remained involved in the West Indies set-up since retirement}

This unity and selflessness remained even when Walsh was appointed captain of the side in 1994.

"When Courtney became captain I still had choice of ends. Of course I always said to him 'I'm going to choose the end with the breeze at my back and you've got to bowl into the wind," Ambrose said.

"He's a joker, so he said, 'man I'm the captain and you're still ordering me around'!"

Joking and personal accolades aside, though, Walsh and Ambrose's partnership was always about the team.

"If I take 10 wickets in a Test match and we lose it's a waste of time. I love winning, winning is a nice feeling. I don't take losing very well," Ambrose said.

While Walsh and Ambrose had different roles to play than Brian Lara or Carl Hooper, the end goal was the same – to win cricket matches.

"One of the highlights of the West Indies team was that we cherished everybody's company" Walsh said.

"It was a tremendous effort all round – every time you looked at that particular team you would think 'wow'."

Back on these shores, Anderson and Broad haven't always had the luxury of being part of a settled, winning side. Yet they have continued to enable one another to take wickets.

Broad will be remembered for his devastating spells, such as at the Oval in 2009 or Trent Bridge in 2015, while Anderson could always be relied upon to swing the ball early on and remove the top order. And England will need a classic Broad spell in the second Test at Lord's, with Australia the narrow favourites according to Betway.

But while Broad's first-innings effort – taking 5-86 – at Edgbaston was admirable it became clear as the game progressed that without Anderson supporting him he does not pose the same threat.

But for Walsh, that does not detract from their achievements to date. "What Jimmy and Stuey have done for the game is tremendous. Hopefully another partnership will come along that will be even better."