You might be forgiven for thinking that Sussex wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose is counting down the days until he is qualified to play for England.

The 21-year-old is regularly mentioned as an international cricketer in the making when the debate about the long-term successor to Alec Stewart is discussed.

But Ambrose himself has a totally different perspective. In fact, he couldn't even tell you when he earns the residency qualification that would make him eligible to play for England.

He thinks it might be at the end of this season (it is), but isn't sure. All he is worried about is the never-ending search for improvement in his own game, keeping his county rival and friend Matt Prior at arm's length and helping Sussex make a decent fist of defending their first Championship title.

It is now five years since he came to Sussex to try and make his way in the game after being frustated at his lack of opportunities in New South Wales where being regarded as one of the state''s best young players didn't seem to count for much. Spotted playing in the Sussex League for Eastbourne, he has hardly looked back since joining the county at the end of 2000.

"I'm not sure when I qualify to be honest," he said. "A few of the guys in the dressing room ask me about it and I'll have been here six years at the end of this season so I must be close.

"Of course I'd love to play Test cricket for England but even if I'm qualified I don't think there is much chance of me getting picked in the next year anyway."

The selectors don't seem to have made up their mind about who is Stewart's heir apparent. Chris Read, Geraint Jones and Prior, who went on the A tour to India during the winter, are all in the frame, but chairman of selectors David Graveney and Academy director Rod Marsh were said to have been impressed with Ambrose's typically tidy performance when they watched the second day's action at Hove last week against Lancashire.

You can be sure his name is in the selectorial notebook although Ambrose will be happy if it stays there for a while as he continues to learn his trade.

"If things come up I will take the opportunity with both hands, but at the moment I'd rather not be pushing qualification through," he added.

"It's a distraction and definitely not at the front of my mind at the moment."

Prior's own chances of breaking into the England team would no doubt improve if he could get the gloves back and that keeps Ambrose on his toes. So does Sussex's director of cricket Peter Moores, a former 'keeper himself, of course, who knows his pupil\s game almost as well as he does.

"Mooresy knows the skill inside-out and he will see things in my game which most people won't," said Ambrose.

"You can come off at the end of a session with a little problem and he will have spotted it already and know what it is, he's as good as it gets and helps me and Matt so much."

Ambrose has been tinkering with his own technique over the last few weeks, briefly adopting the Australian method which seems to be in vogue amongst stumpers at the moment. Disciples include Prior who changed his method after working with Marsh in the winter.

By taking the ball inside the left hip, it is supposed to help you cover more ground but it wasn't long before Ambrose reverted back to what he knew best.

"Everyone seems to have converted to the Australian method and I used it when I first started," he said.

"Last season I felt I was getting a bit lazy, but it didn't work out for me and when I went back to my old style it felt a thousand times better straight away.

"You try things to get that extra ten per cent improvement in your game, but rather than improving by changing it, I think I can improve on what I already do."

Prior probably covets his friend's slot at five in Sussex's batting order too, but Ambrose is keen to hold on to that as well.

He might not yet possess the range of strokes of some of his team-mates, Prior included, but his ability to bat time tends to allow others to play their shots around his more patient approach.

He said: "I see it that if I can bat for two sessions I might only score 70 or 80, but if we score another 250 as a team when we're out there then I've done a good job for the side, that's what my game is based on."

Ambrose made some crucial contributions in Sussex's title-winning season including nine half-centuries, but wasn't able to convert any of them into a coveted hundred. Surely, though, it's only a matter of time.