Ramprakash ready for the last waltz

As England prepare for their all-or-nothing Fifth Test at the Oval next week, which will decide whether they can wrest the Ashes from Australia or if they'll be forced to spend another two years pondering innumerable 'what if' scenarios, a batsman described as "the greatest batting enigma of his age" is at the centre of their thinking.

Mark Ramprakash, the 39-year-old Surrey batsman who last season became only the 25th player to record the achievement of scoring 100 first-class centuries, is being championed by many as the man to solve the national team's middle order batting crisis - at Headingley last week, the three men tasked with taking England to a decent total, Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, totalled 16 runs between them in six attempts.

But while Ramprakash would appear to be a shoo-in on current form - he has scored 1,209 runs at a staggering average of 100.75 this season, that is he can be relied upon to get a century each time he bats - his critics point to his failure to ever fully translate his scorching county form to the Test arena.

After breaking through on the county scene, the Anglo-Indian cricketer first played for the national team in a 1991 Test against the West Indies, where he failed to impress, scratching around for a pair of 27s scored at less than a run every four balls. He was soon dropped, then spent the rest of the 1990s in a dispiriting cycle of playing sparkling cricket for his county Middlesex, being recalled to England, but never reproducing his form.

His last appearance for England was in 2002 against New Zealand in Auckland by which time he had moved across London from Middlesex to Surrey. Finally freed from needing to impress the national selectors, he set about county attacks with a rare ferocity, becoming the first man to score centuries against every county and regularly averaging over 100 for a season. He even found the time to win the BBC reality TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2006.

Whether he is the man to help England to only their second Ashes series victory in 20 years is hotly debated: his critics point to a Test average of just 27.32 and a perception that he is not mentally strong enough for the crucible that the Oval will become next week. His supporters point to his Test average against Australia (a respectable 42) the fact he scored one of his two Test centuries against them and his comfort at Surrey's Oval home.

The man himself remains humble, saying yesterday "I'd be thrilled if asked [to play]. As a player it's the sort of occasion you'd cherish and remember for the rest of your career. England have a wonderful opportunity to come out and play aggressive cricket, and really go for it." ·