Darren Gough believes that, had it been left to individuals, none of the England players about to tour Zimbabwe would have gone.

It's a typically bold statement from England's most experienced one day international. But it's not true.

Matt Prior was 12-years-old when he announced to his parents while they were watching Sussex play a Sunday League match that he would play for the county by the time he was 18 and for his country at 21.

Well, he was only a year out and, regardless of the adverse publicity the tour has generated, he can't wait to go to Zimbabwe itself.

No England tour since the days of Bodyline has attracted so much adverse publicity. There has been open hostility to the decision to play five one-day internationals, both at home and in Zimbabwe.

Prior has already resigned himself to spending the time when he's not playing or practising cooped up in his hotel room listening to music, watching DVDs or playing computer games.

Protests against the 11-day trip are planned in Bulawayo and Harare and Prior admits that the only thing which has given him sleepless nights since his selection in September is the thought of saying the wrong thing when the inevitable questions about the morality of touring Zimbabwe tour are asked.

What he would rather be talking about is how a 22-year-old uncapped tyro has used the trip to establish himself as an England player with a big future.

Prior has been earmarked to fill Marcus Trescothick's role at the top of the batting order after transforming himself into a high-quality one-day opener in the space of 12 months.

Sussex first gave him an opportunity at the top of the order in 2003, but after scores of 0,0,0,1,2 and 21 the experiment, not surprisingly, was shelved. He finished that season with a one-day average of 12.42.

A year later the transformation in Prior's game has been astonishing. He got another chance opening the innings and never looked back after making 70 in Sussex's first one-dayer against Middlesex in April.

Two months later he made his maiden one-day hundred and he finished the season with an average of over 40.

"Since I made my Sussex debut I think I've made progress in my game every season," he said.

"But this year I've really pushed on at county level and now I feel ready to make the next step up.

"I knew I was capable of opening the innings and doing well. This season I discovered a method that works for me and the consistency that is required. That's been the big difference."

Purely from a cricketing point of view, the next three weeks offer Prior the perfect opportunity to enhance the favourable reputation he established last winter when he was one of the few successes on England A's tour to India, his first taste of international cricket.

Academy director Rod Marsh pushed his claims when the tour parties were picked and coach Duncan Fletcher was impressed with the way Prior conducted himself when he did 12th man duties for England at Edgbaston in August.

Prior has heard the same things.

"I've been told Duncan and (captain) Michael (Vaughan) are pretty keen on blokes who are competitive, work hard and fight hard to win," he said. "That's exactly what I'm all about and now I feel I'm ready to prove it."

England would view anything other than a 5-0 series whitewash as a disappointment. Zimbabwe's pop-gun attack is no better than some county second XIs. If Prior can get himself established, there are surely runs to be had.

But it's not just through his batting that Prior is hoping to impress. He's been working with Mike Young, a respected American baseball coach, at the Academy in Loughborough, to improve the accuracy of his throwing and he is also back-up wicketkeeper to Geraint Jones.

"I feel my keeping really came on this season and I enjoyed it which has not always been the case. Not so long ago I felt wicketkeeping was a bit of a chore to be honest.

"Whether I get to keep or not remains to be seen, but I know fielding is one area I can impress," he said. "Paul Collingwood has made backward point his position, but I'd love to field at extra cover. The ball goes there a lot and I love diving around.

"Working with Mike has really helped. Someone like Ricky Ponting will hit the stumps eight or nine times out of ten from extra cover, that's the sort of consistency I'm aiming for."

There can't be too many young cricketers so sure of their own destiny than Prior. He's confident, but not arrogant and there will be nerves when he walks into an England dressing room for the first time.

"It's a bit like your first day at school," he said. "I'm the new boy and I don't want to slip up. Since my kit arrived I must have checked it over a hundred times just to make sure I know what to wear and when."

That was the moment when what he has achieved really hit home - opening a huge box of kit and seeing the England shirt with his name and the No.13 on the back.

It might seem an odd choice of squad number, but Prior has stuck with it since a Sussex Academy tour in 1999 when his performances went a long way to securing his place on the professional staff.