January 1993. Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. Australia was taking on the West Indies for the first final. Two spirited personalities - Dean Jones and Curtly Ambrose came against each other. Not exactly for conventional reasons. Chasing 240, Dean Jones walked out to bat at the loss of David Boon’s wicket.
After taking guard, Jones walked to the umpire Terry Prue. He had an unusual request for Ambrose. Prue asked Ambrose to take off his wrist band from right hand. It was white in colour. Ambrose was bowling with the white ball and Jones complained of difficulty to sight release of the ball. Mind you, the 57-year old Antiguan had the reputation of being a terrifying proposition. Making such a request created a stir in the stadium.
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Ambrose wouldn't budge. He was adamant. The umpires too failed to convince him. Skipper Richardson had to intervene and convince the big man to get rid of his wrist band. Mark Taylor at the other end couldn't make sense of Jones' action. Now it wasn’t just Jones vs Ambrose. The entire West Indies team was behind Jones’ life.
What ensued was total carnage from the six feet eight inch West Indian. He was quicker and nastier after the confrontation. "The next three deliveries were probably the quickest I ever faced!" said Jones.
Jones was trying to get under Ambrose's skin. Instead he ended up firing him. Ambrose later revealed:
“I was really upset with him and I told myself I’m going to make it damn hard for him. I’m really going to rough him up. I wasn’t going to hurt him, but I was going to make him uncomfortable."
Ambrose wreaked havoc on Australia. He ended with figures of 5 for 32. Australia lost both the match and series. Jones admitted it was an error in judgment on his part. One that not only hurt him but also his team. He would never pull off such an act again. The duo would share a laugh remembering the incident in years to come. But the incident stayed with Jones for the rest of his life.
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