Bat and ball / Ralph Ellis / 24 February 2009 /

Ralph Ellis is all for the "new man" concept but wonders whether on this occasion Matt Prior shouldn't be behind the stumps in the West Indies rather than by his baby's cot...

I'm all for this new man business - up to a point. My two boys are grown up now but they still come top of my priorities. And always did. Except they both grew up knowing their dad would never be able to promise to be at school plays or sports days, or birthday parties either come to that.

My job has taken me all over the world watching sport, and sometimes at a moment's notice. I can remember flying to see Des Walker sign for Sampdoria when I should have been at an under nine Cup final, and spending the oldest one's 18th birthday in Sweden for an England match. The summer of 1998 I wasn't at home for two months because of the World Cup and its warm-up tournaments.

Lucky me, of course. But with the upside of travelling the globe all expenses paid to see what everybody else was forking out their life savings for, came the downside that home had to suffer at times. Then again, that was what put a roof over their heads. There are plenty of long distance lorry drivers who have the same problem, but without the glamour of being paid to watch sport.

As for those who are paid to play it - well I've got very little sympathy with Matt Prior who has dashed home from the West Indies to be with his wife following the birth of their new born son. Yes, it's an emotional time and I'm sure Mrs Prior wants him there. But his job is to be England wicket keeper and that's what he should be doing. He's not even going to be at the birth because the little boy arrived unexpectedly early.

Prior has the full backing of England's management. "We clearly have an important Test but it is their first child and Matt wants to be there," says Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, in this morning's papers. "We have provision for paternity leave in the players' central contracts and Matt is within his rights to go back. We expect Matt to be back in good time for the Trinidad Test."

Well good for Matt, except by that time we could have lost the series. As if being without Freddie Flintoff through injury wasn't enough of a blow to the batting line-up, taking Prior away delivers a further disruption. He would presumably have batted number six to allow another bowler into the line-up - instead it looks likely England will have to pick Ian Bell or Ravi Bopara there so Tim Ambrose, the replacement behind the stumps, can go in at seven.

Andrew Strauss and his team needed as much stability as possible in Barbados, especially after the embarrassing flop in Jamaica and the near miss in Antigua. Instead there will be two disruptions to the team and it's hard to see how you can justify making England [2.78] favourites to win. The West Indies at [3.7] looks far better value.

One final thought. What if Ambrose gets in and scores another Test ton, and gets half a dozen catches and a few smart stumpings too? He'd have to keep his place for Trinidad. And would Mrs Prior be quite so glad her hubby came home then?

Five things you might not know about Tim Ambrose

1.Born in New South Wales of an English mother and Australian father, he was 17 before he came to England after writing letters to every county asking for a chance

2.He kept wicket in the first game he ever played aged 11 - his Mum gave him some gardening gloves to use

3.Only Sussex and Hampshire wrote back, and he started his trial at Sussex the day after getting off the plane

4.He was in competition with Matt Prior then - and still is. He left to join Warwickshire in 2005 to get regular first team action

5.He started smoking when he was young and still does - "I'd like to quit but I'm just horrible when I try and give up," he admits.

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