Mal Serplet, the Australian skipper of Shrewsbury-based Reman Services, has revealed his pride after watching his cousin Tim Ambrose crack his maiden Test match century for England.
Serplet was glued to the television as wicketkeeper-batsman Ambrose reached three figures to set England, his adopted country, on their way to victory in the second Test of the current series against New Zealand in Wellington.
“We’re all very proud of him,” said Serplet, quick to excuse his famous cousin for pledging his international future to England, the country of his mother’s birth.
“I’ve not got Sky at the moment so I went down to the pub to watch him get his century. When I got there they were showing the Rangers football match, but I managed to persuade them to put the cricket on and it was great to see him get 100.”
Serplet, who has been visited in Shrewsbury by Ambrose in the past, has plenty of first-hand knowledge of the Warwickshire ace’s prowess with the bat as they regularly played cricket with each other during their school holidays Down Under.
Although Serplet, from Sydney, lived three hours away from Ambrose, who grew up in Newcastle, the cousins often got to spend time with each other.
“We used to play in the back yard and I don’t think I ever managed to get him out, although my brother Michael says he did once which is his claim to fame,” said Serplet, whose mum is the sister of Ambrose’s dad. “But Tim would just bat all day.
“He was one of those lads who was good at every sport he tried, be it cricket, football or golf, so it doesn’t surprise me how well he’s done. He’s really put the hard yards in so good luck to him, and all of the family are really proud to see him doing so well for himself.”
Ambrose, two years younger than 27-year-old Serplet, first came over to England at 18 and played club cricket for Eastbourne on the south coast before being spotted by Sussex.
Serplet said he keeps in fairly regular contact with his cousin and revealed the duo take an interest in each other’s cricketing careers.
“When I first came over to England, Tim came up to Shrewsbury a couple of times with another uncle of ours who lives down south and watched a game at Albert Road,” he recalled.
“I went to watch him play for Warwickshire in a Twenty20 match at Edgbaston last year and he got us good tickets. He’s a good lad so I hope to go and watch him a bit more this year.”