Ambrose checks in

England's new No. 7 is a keeper first and foremost © Getty Images Enlarge

Tim Ambrose and Matt Prior have been friends and rivals ever since they first played together at Sussex in the summer of 2001, but deep down they always knew that, as two men competing for the same wicketkeeping position, one of them would have to win out in the end. In the summer of 2005, when Ambrose packed his bags and left for Warwickshire after two difficult seasons in Prior's shadow, it looked as though the argument had finally been settled. At Lord's on Friday, however, the tables were turned in spectacular fashion.

"I'm a little bit surprised but thrilled," said Ambrose, after learning that he had been earmarked for a Test debut at Prior's expense, when England begin their three-match series against New Zealand on March 5. "I'm a little bit numb and for now I'm just letting it sink in before focusing on the job. Matt and I have always had a healthy competition - I wouldn't call it a rivalry because he's a good friend of mine, so I feel for him and I'm sure he'll be very disappointed at the moment."

Prior's performances in Sri Lanka were wholehearted but sadly flawed, with the nadir coming at Galle where he dropped three crucial chances, all diving to his right. Despite his undoubted success with the bat - he has averaged in excess of 40 in his first ten Tests - those misses took his tally for the year into double figures. For the selectors who are still intent on finding a long-term successor to Alec Stewart, it is a catalogue of errors that cannot be ignored any longer.

Mind you, Prior has never pretended that wicketkeeping was his first love - batting was always No. 1 for him, and he only stumbled on the keeping role by accident as a teenager, when a junior team-mate failed to turn up for a match. Ambrose, on the other hand, presents himself as a gloveman first and foremost. "I've always kept since the first game I played, so it's always been a major, major part of my game," he said. "I take a lot of pride in it, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It's why I play the game."

A glance at the bald statistics would tend to tell the same tale. Ambrose has managed just four first-class centuries in seven seasons, and none at all in his final three years at Sussex. In 2003, the year in which the county secured their first Championship title, he played a vital role with 931 runs and a top score of 93 not out, but in 2004 and 2005 his form fell away as Prior seized the role of top dog. "We knew from a long way out that one of us would have to go elsewhere to try and pursue our dreams," said Ambrose. "The opportunity came up for me at Warwickshire and I received good support in making that move. Sussex were very helpful and understood the situation, and it's worked out well for us."

It wasn't, however, the first time that Ambrose had upped sticks to further his career. He was born and brought up in New South Wales, the son of an English mother and Australian father, but at the age of 17 made a leap of faith and emigrated to England. "I had played junior levels for NSW U17s, but I always felt the opportunity to keep wicket and bat in that situation was against my favour, so when the opportunity came up to come over here I grabbed it."

Ambrose sent off letters to various counties asking for a trial, and received replies from Hampshire and Sussex, with whom he spent his first three days in England after landing from Sydney. "My trial started the morning after I got off the plane, so it was a pretty shotgun thing," he said. "I was looking to explore the world really, and experience new things, and also to play some cricket. In that first year Sussex asked me to play and offered me a contract, and obviously I'd have to be a fool to pass up. It's resulted in me having a great life here for the last seven or eight years."

The Ashes are looming in 2009, and are the obvious target for every English cricketer with international aspirations, but Ambrose insisted there would be no conflict of allegiance if he ever got the chance to play. "I've lived all my adult life here, and this is my home," he said. "All my friends are here, and I haven't even been to Australia for a few years. I'll be very pleased and proud to have opportunity to represent my country.

"My mother and all her family were born in England and went to Australia to seek opportunities," he added. "She was fairly young, around 15 or 16, so it's similar to the age I was when I came back here. I've spoken to quite a few of them this morning, as they've been very supportive of me for the last seven or eight years."

How equipped for success is Ambrose likely to be? If any man should know, it would have to be England's head coach, Peter Moores, the man who offered that Sussex contract back in 2001. "I'm a big fan of Peter, as everyone who's worked with him is," said Ambrose. "He's an excellent manager and coach, and he'll be great to help with my keeping, confidence, and every aspect of the game. I'm very much looking forward to reuniting with him."

It was to Moores that Ambrose turned when he realised his time at Sussex was running out. "He was very supportive, because he realised that it was going to be the case for one of us," said Ambrose. "Obviously he wanted to make sure that whichever one of us did make the move, it was the right thing to do, at the right time and the right place. I spent five or six years under his guidance, and I attribute a lot of my success and learning experience in the early part of my career to him."

And yet, because of Prior's claims, Moores was never able to offer Ambrose a long-term role as wicketkeeper. Judging by the drama of this selection, he still hasn't quite made up his mind. Once again, the spotlight is set to burn furiously on England's latest No. 7 when the New Zealand series gets underway.