Sussex will know by the end of the month whether Tim Ambrose is staying at Hove.

The 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has been offered a new two-year contract and cricket manager Mark Robinson is confident he will stay with the county.

Ambrose and the other senior players offered extended contracts this week have until October 31 to accept their new terms.

Ambrose has made no secret that he wants to keep wicket, a role denied him at Hove by the form of Matt Prior.

Other counties are awaiting developments, Yorkshire and Warwickshire among them.

During their discussions Robinson stressed that he felt Ambrose could still play solely as a batsman.

He played in five Championship games last season but only kept wicket once when Prior was on England one-day duty.

Robinson was impressed with Ambrose's performances in the final month of the season. He made 44 in the last game against Kent his highest Championship score since the opening game of 2004 and kept flawlessly in the second innings when Prior rested a sore groin.

Robinson said: "We definitely see Tim as an important part in the development of our team. He did really well in the last few weeks and we think he's got a big future here, solely as a batsman or keeping as well.

"It's up to Tim. If he feels he wants to go elsewhere and keep wicket then we will respect that decision."

Sussex are determined to keep the nucleus of their current squad together for at least another two seasons, so they can have another tilt at winning the Championship.

Skipper Chris Adams, Mushtaq Ahmed, James Kirtley and Robin Martin-Jenkins have all been offered one-year extensions which tie them to the club until the end of the 2007 season.

By then Adams and Mushtaq will both be 37 although Robinson insists age is no barrier to the chances of any player remaining on the professional staff.

"You can be tired and fall out of love with the game when you're 25. A big thing is made about age but if you're fit, your record is good and the hunger and passion is there I think you can still play a big part," added Robinson.

"Chris Adams probably played as well as at any time of his career last season while someone like Jason Lewry seems to get better with age. He was outstanding before he got injured and has got another one-year contract as a result."

With an eye to the future, Sussex have offered two-year extension to Mike Yardy, their best batsmen in 2005, and Luke Wright which would keep them at the county until the end of 2008.

Rana Naved has agreed a new two-year deal but the contracts of openers Richard Montgomerie and Ian Ward, which have one and two years left respectively, remain unchanged.

Mark Davis, who has retired to concentrate on his new coaching role, has been replaced by fellow off-spinner Ollie Rayner which means the current professional squad remains 18-strong although Sussex are still looking to bring in a young quick bowler.

A possible target could be England one-day quick Sajid Mahmood who is out of contract at Lancashire for whom he played just four Championship games last season because of an Achilles injury and loss of form.