When he stepped down on the warm tarmac of Adelaide Airport on Friday, to join the England cricket tour of Australia, he was taking one of the last steps towards a goal that has consumed him for a decade.

Should he play in the Ashes series . . . and given the rate of attrition of recent English tours, it's almost certain that Joyce will be in the five-day team before the winter is out . . . he will be the first Irishborn and raised cricketer to play a test match for more than a century. The fivematch series commences in Brisbane on Thursday.

The prospect of playing in front of 90,000 at the MCG or the notoriously vocal Hill at Sydney won't hold any fears though for the 28-year-old from Bray. He is famously laid back, a fluent, natural player with an easy style about him that the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer likens to David Gower.

Former Ireland captain Michael Halliday remembers seeing him play for Merrion in the Leinster Cup final at 16: "His style and footwork, even at that age, reminded me of David Gower, but above all the apparent time he had to play shots. In all sports it is this uncoachable ability to find time which usually differentiates between the ordinary and the great. His success in stepping up from one level to another seemed effortless and if he gets a chance at test level he may well be up to that challenge too."

Already Joyce has joined that exclusive position previously occupied in the UK media by Barry McGuigan and Eddie Irvine of being a British sportsman when he's doing well and an Irish one when he's not. There was also a bit of muttering back home about swapping his Ireland cap for an England one.

"I've never heard anyone complaining about my declaring for England, " he says. "I made my mind up on this years ago and the way I see it, I'm an Irishman trying to play cricket for England because Ireland doesn't play test cricket. I've no problem adding allegiances. Playing English county cricket has enabled me to make a career for myself and the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Geraint Jones . . . though born in different countries . . . have gone on to play for England. I've no problem with that."

Joyce famously learned the game in the back garden in Bray where he joined his first First XI, skippered by Jim and Maureen. "Summer was for cricket and if you wanted to do anything else, you did it during the winter. We like all sports though. I would say that it is more of a sportobsessed household rather than a cricket-obsessed one.

I love the fact that I've got so many brothers and sisters.

Always someone to bowl at you in the back yard."

On then to Merrion CC, where he grew to love the game and played it from dawn to dusk all summer long. His prolific scoring in underage cricket won him a spot on the Ireland team at 19 and a recommendation that Middlesex take a look at him.

His relationship with the county was uneasy at first . . .

he hated it . . . but was persuaded to return and started his rise.

After a sojourn at Trinity to pick up a geography degree, he made London his home.

Last season was his ninth at Lord's and each one saw progress in his game and career.

After helping secure a place in the World Cup for Ireland in July 2005, he completed qualification for England and went on an A tour to West Indies last winter. "I was disappointed with the A tests, " he admitted. "I think I was trying too hard to do well and put myself under more pressure."

In the one-day series he rattled up three 50s opening the batting and it was this performance that earned him a further opportunity. In June he made his full debut for England . . . against Ireland . . . but a nightmare injury in the following game halted his march. He returned against Pakistan, with little success, and had the dubious pleasure of acting as drinks waiter for the Champions Trophy in India.

Then last Tuesday morning he popped down to the corner shop in Clapham for a loaf of bread. On that early morning stroll he got a call from chairman of selectors David Graveney, who gave him the news that he was required in Adelaide, pronto, due to Marcus Trescothick's mental breakdown. "I was sad for Marcus having to come home, but I'm really happy that I got the nod, " he said.

Although Joyce had been mentioned in the media as being on a shortlist of three, he was seen as the outsider to Rob Key and Owais Shah. The word is that Joyce's attitude impressed Duncan Fletcher on the recent trip to India and the Zimbabwean coach is famous for his hunches.

Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook were all unlikely picks when first introduced to the international scene.

Joyce had less than 36 hours to pack his bags, answer dozens of text messages, and bid farewell to Francesca, shortly to join the cricket WAGs for Christmas in Sydney. He joined the England stand-by players at Heathrow, but left them behind in Dubai when he flew on to Adelaide. High above the clouds, between sleep and reading Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, he had plenty of time to get his head around his situation.

"The last few days were weird, " he said.

Joyce had quipped his way around several radio and TV stations but can now enjoy a respite thanks to Australia's notoriously one-eyed media.

His former Irish teammates, grateful for his two centuries that helped them to qualify for the World Cup, are delighted at his elevation. "Its brilliant for him and for Irish cricket, " says skipper Trent Johnston. "Everybody should be very proud of him . . . I hope now he gets a chance to play."