| By David Gavrilovic |
Prior and Ambrose started their county careers with Sussex and shared wicket-keeping duties in the 2003 Championship-winning side before Ambrose left for Warwickshire in 2005 in a bid to fulfil his international ambitions.
"There was a period where me and Matt kept swapping the gloves. Matt wanted to stick at keeping so I needed a move to somewhere where I could get to keep which I wanted to do.
"The move to Warwickshire was a fresh start and a new challenge which I needed because my career had stalled as I had become too comfortable." said the 24-year-old.
And the move has paid off, with the Australian-born keeper shining in a strong Warwickshire batting line-up featuring England players Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott.
The hard-hitting right-hander, who came to England aged 18 and is now qualified to play for the national side, caught the selectors' attention with a career-best 251 in the Championship match against Worcestershire in May and followed that up with some eye-catching cameos in one-day cricket.
His sensational start to the season has given him a Championship batting average of well over 70 and makes him the fourth top run scorer in the Friends Provident Trophy and third top in the Twenty20 Cup.
Ambrose has combined this batting form with some excellent work behind the stumps, and his reward is a place in the England Lions side to face India at Chelmsford from 13-15 July.
And he is also being tipped to join Prior in England's provisional 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.
That could mean the pair reigniting their Sussex rivalry on the international stage.
"I'd like to play for England, its been an ambition of mine for a long time," he said. "International level is the ultimate test and it's the challenge everyone wants.
"Hopefully, if my form continues or even improves I may get the chance to show what I can do for England."
Ambrose doesn't feel the pressure, though, when he is talked about as a potential England player, saying: "Talk doesn't affect me, my job is still the same."
With Prior taking the England wicket-keeping spot in such spectacular form you might think Ambrose would be jealous of his former team-mate's success, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"We're friends, we get on well, we always have done. We have the same sense of humour," he said.
And he maintains the 2003 Championship triumph with Prior is his biggest achievement in cricket so far.
"Winning the title was our ultimate goal, it's the most testing competition because you have to play well all summer and have a strong side to win it.
"I'm very proud of winning that year especially as the club have been around a very long time and that was their first county title."
And with things going well for his new county, the Twenty20 World Cup and the winter tour to Sri Lanka could see Prior and Ambrose teaming up again - for their country.
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