There were a few who thought otherwise, including the man himself.
A mere imitation of the high-class fast bowler West Indians had come to know him as, Ambrose was a huge disappointment on the ill-starred tour of Pakistan, where he managed a solitary wicket in two Tests.
When injury forced him out of the third Test and he came back to the Caribbean, there were doubts about whether Ambrose would even play against England.
Not only did he take the field, but he was back to something near his best and the 30 wickets he collected in the six Tests went a long way in helping the West Indies retain the Wisden Trophy with a 3-1 series win.
Ambrose featured little in the five One-Day Internationals that followed, but he had done enough in the minds of a panel chaired by veteran commentator Joseph ``Reds'' Perreira to win the Man-of-the-Series award ö US$1 600 and a choice of a Rover 200, 400 or 600.
``I know myself and my teammates. They know what I can do. I went out there, did what I had to do and came up trumps,'' Ambrose said after the announcement was made here, yesterday.
Good series
``It was a good series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The result could have gone either way, but in the end, I think we played a little better and we came out winners.''
The 34-year-old Antiguan, who started his international career in 1988, was non-committal about his future.
When asked about the possibility of him touring South Africa later this year, his response was: ``It's a long way from now. I'm just going to go home and relax; spend some time with the family and see what happens.''
Ambrose, who also paid tribute to fellow fast bowler Courtney Walsh, won the award ahead of Carl Hooper, who performed consistently in the Tests and One-Day Internationals.
The Guyanese all-rounder made 295 runs and took 15 wickets in the Tests and followed up in the One-Day series with scores of 45, 66, 50, 15 and 35 not out for an aggregate of 211 (average 52.75). His off-breaks were also useful, having conceded less than three runs an over in two matches in St. Vincent.
West Indies captain Brian Lara, England opener Alec Stewart and fast bowler Angus Fraser were viewed as the other contenders.