James Kirtley insists he will be ready should the call for his Test debut arrive at Trent Bridge this weekend.
Sussex seamer Kirtley, 28, has become accustomed to false starting when it comes to the eve of Tests.
But having been in four squads this summer and on standby for the Lord's defeat by South Africa last time out, there is a chance he will finally break his duck.
That chance was enhanced when Darren Gough announced his retirement from Test cricket last week.
However, having made his one-day debut for his country two winters ago, Kirtley is England's nearly man.
"It is a very hard situation," said Kirtley. "You believe in the initial stages that you will play and you have to prepare as if you are going to play.
"You can't prepare thinking you are not going to play because if someone rolls their ankle or falls down the steps then that is my opportunity.
"That has probably been the hardest thing, building yourself up for it and then missing out."
Kirtley has been used to travelling the country's motorways in a search of a game during Test weeks this season but believes his county commitments have left little time to dwell on disappointment.
"What has been good is that Sussex have been playing some good, hard, successful cricket so it is very easy to get back into things," he said.
"You can't afford to coast into the game, you have got to get into the game straight away and there is very little time to mull around and lick your wounds, you just have to get on with it."
Having been around the England squad for two years, when the bow finally arrives, he will feel fully integrated into the side.
"What the England selectors have done over the last couple of years is be consistent with their selections and they do back the guys that are around," he said. "There is a bit of a new era as a seam bowler.
"There has always been some very fine competition and we now have Glen Chapple coming into the side while there are others like Richard Johnson and Matthew Hoggard coming back from injury.
"There is always going to be keen competition but at the moment there are a few opportunities and it is up to me to take them."
Kirtley claimed a five-wicket haul for Sussex against Nottinghamshire in a Frizzell County Championship contest at Trent Bridge recently when the ball swung prodigiously.
Two other contenders for a Test debut are Chapple, of Lancashire, and Worcestershire's off-spinning all-rounder Gareth Batty.
One definite entrant to the five-match npower series, which South Africa lead 1-0, will be all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who missed the opener at Edgbaston and the innings victory in NW8 because of the death of his father Henry.
He is likely to replace Dewald Pretorius in an 11 which has shrugged off the ignominious defeat by England in the final of the NatWest Series, when Kallis was amongst those shot out for a paltry 107.RJK
Sussex seamer Kirtley, 28, has become accustomed to false starting when it comes to the eve of Tests.
But having been in four squads this summer and on standby for the Lord's defeat by South Africa last time out, there is a chance he will finally break his duck.
That chance was enhanced when Darren Gough announced his retirement from Test cricket last week.
However, having made his one-day debut for his country two winters ago, Kirtley is England's nearly man.
"It is a very hard situation," said Kirtley. "You believe in the initial stages that you will play and you have to prepare as if you are going to play.
"You can't prepare thinking you are not going to play because if someone rolls their ankle or falls down the steps then that is my opportunity.
"That has probably been the hardest thing, building yourself up for it and then missing out."
Kirtley has been used to travelling the country's motorways in a search of a game during Test weeks this season but believes his county commitments have left little time to dwell on disappointment.
"What has been good is that Sussex have been playing some good, hard, successful cricket so it is very easy to get back into things," he said.
"You can't afford to coast into the game, you have got to get into the game straight away and there is very little time to mull around and lick your wounds, you just have to get on with it."
Having been around the England squad for two years, when the bow finally arrives, he will feel fully integrated into the side.
"What the England selectors have done over the last couple of years is be consistent with their selections and they do back the guys that are around," he said. "There is a bit of a new era as a seam bowler.
"There has always been some very fine competition and we now have Glen Chapple coming into the side while there are others like Richard Johnson and Matthew Hoggard coming back from injury.
"There is always going to be keen competition but at the moment there are a few opportunities and it is up to me to take them."
Kirtley claimed a five-wicket haul for Sussex against Nottinghamshire in a Frizzell County Championship contest at Trent Bridge recently when the ball swung prodigiously.
Two other contenders for a Test debut are Chapple, of Lancashire, and Worcestershire's off-spinning all-rounder Gareth Batty.
One definite entrant to the five-match npower series, which South Africa lead 1-0, will be all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who missed the opener at Edgbaston and the innings victory in NW8 because of the death of his father Henry.
He is likely to replace Dewald Pretorius in an 11 which has shrugged off the ignominious defeat by England in the final of the NatWest Series, when Kallis was amongst those shot out for a paltry 107.RJK
