Curtly Ambrose and when he returned to England to play for Northamptonshire in 1990, took 58 first-class wickets to top the club's bowling averages. In one-day cricket for the county, he took 13 wickets while conceding an average of just 2.53 runs per over. West Indies toured Pakistan in late 1990, and Ambrose topped the team's bowling averages in a three-match series which was drawn 1–1. He took 14 wickets at 17.07, but was overshadowed slightly by the performances of Ian Bishop. He played the first two ODIs, but missed the third after Pakistan had already won the series, and his best
Curtly Ambrose suggested that the bowlers were tired and judged the team "outright failures". Following the World Cup, the West Indian selectors chose to rest Ambrose, along with Walsh, from alternate ODI tournaments. Ambrose consequently missed two ODI series, but in October 1999 he played two ODIs in a series against Bangladesh in Dhaka and three in a tournament in Sharjah. In the latter competition, Ambrose conceded five runs from ten overs against Sri Lanka, the second most economical bowling figures from a full allocation of 10 overs in all ODIs. However, in all five matches, he took just one wicket, and