Mark Robinson knew a long time ago that the day might come when Sussex would lose one of their two talented wicketkeeper-batsmen.

He just hoped it would not happen a couple of weeks into his reign as the county's new cricket manager.

Robinson and his predecessor Peter Moores had identified Tim Ambrose and Matt Prior as special talents almost as soon as they joined the staff in 2001 as 17-year-olds.

Now, frustrated at his lack of opportunity behind the stumps because of Prior's consistent form, Ambrose has left Hove and signed a three-year contract with Warwickshire.

Sussex did what they could to persuade him to stay. It is not much consolation when one of your capped players leaves but at least Robinson is comforted by the knowledge that it was for cricketing reasons only.

The reality is that Robinson has been bracing himself for this moment ever since Ambrose asked permission to speak to other counties back in August.

And the good news, as far as finding a replacement is concerned, is that there are some decent wicketkeeper-batsman on the market this winter.

Durham's Andy Pratt, who is also interesting Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire's David Alleyne and Derek Kenway of Hampshire were all released at the end of the season.

But I understand that the county might be interested in bringing back former England under-19 keeper Andrew Hodd from Surrey, where he is out of contract.

Hodd is a talented wicketkeeper who moved on because he couldn't see a way past either Prior or Ambrose. But he has been unable to displace Jon Batty at the Oval and has yet to play a Championship game for Surrey, although they are said to be pleased with his progress.

Of course, Robinson can make no guarantees to whoever he signs. Prior is in possession of the first team gloves but if he was to break through at international level then there would be plenty of opportunity next season for the new face.

"Matt thoroughly deserves to be our first-choice keeper and whoever comes will have to do outstandingly well to take the gloves off him," said Robinson.

"We're fortunate this year that there are quite a few options with regard to wicketkeepers.

"Hoddy is an obvious one because of his Sussex connections although I imagine Surrey would be keen to keep him.

"I've spoken to one agent who has given me four names straight away. We've been preparing for the possibility of Tim leaving for a while but the search will obviously intensify now and we will need to act quite quickly."

Sussex believe they have another young keeper with the potential to do as well as Ambrose and Prior in Ben Brown, but at 16 the Academy pupil is not quite ready for the step up to the professional ranks.

"I'd have no hesitation if this was two years down the line in promoting Ben," said Academy director Keith Greenfield.

"He has come on leaps and bounds this year, especially in his batting, and has big potential."

Brown tasted second team cricket this summer and would love to follow in the footsteps of Prior and Ambrose.

He said: "Matt has done fantastically well and is a great role model. I haven't seen much of him this summer as he is so busy but, like all the pros at the club, he is always willing to give advice to the younger players like me."

Ambrose, meanwhile, believes he can fulfill some ambitions of his own with his new county.

Now England-qualified, he would love a situation where he was vying with his former team-mate to be the country's first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman.

"Warwickshire are a big county and they have a record of getting players to the next level up which would be playing for England," he said.

"I'm qualified now so that has to be one of my ambitions and a huge motivation when I decided to join them."

Leicestershire's veteran wicketkeeper Paul Nixon has signed a new one-year deal. The 34-year-old said: "It's great to have another year here, I have now had 14 seasons at Leicestershire and still enjoy the game as much as I always have done."