Prior in determind mood
Matt Prior hopes to tour India with England next winter
Matt Prior’s ambition to play for England has not diminished since being left out of the tour of New Zealand but he accepts he will have to bide his time.
Prior, who is considering a switch to specialist batsman in a bid to add to his collection of 10 Test and 21 one-day international caps, turns out for Sussex in the first-class season opener against MCC at Lord’s beginning on Thursday.
He does so in his familiar guise as wicketkeeper, however, having opted to maintain his dual role for the foreseeable future.
Producing the number of runs which earnt him initial recognition - he was the first England wicketkeeper to hit a hundred on Test debut 11 months ago - is at the forefront of his thoughts.
“Breaking back into that England team is something that occupies my mind but I don’t think it is realistic to be worrying about it this summer,” said Prior.
“Realistically my goal is to get on a tour next winter and the only way I am going to do that is by performing well in the games that I am playing.”
Former Hove colleague Tim Ambrose has succeeded Prior as first-choice for the Test team and duelling is familiar to both men.
“The thing about Tim and I, when we were at Sussex, was that there was big rivalry and we always said to each other that, plain and simple, whoever was playing the best should play,” Prior added.
Former Sussex team-mate Tim Ambrose has taken over from Prior in Tests © Getty Images
“But we can help each other get better and better. He has got the gloves at the moment and I shall be working very, very hard to keeping pushing him and make sure he knows I’m still around.”
Prior lost his place to Ambrose following some disappointing glove work during the Test series in Sri Lanka before Christmas.
However, during that series he performed admirably with the bat including 19 not out off 100 balls to save the final Test in Galle, an innings of 79 in the previous match at Colombo and 63 in the series opener in Kandy.
“One of the things Peter Moores actually said to me, when I spoke to him after being left out, was that I didn’t have to go back to the drawing board and start all over again,” said Prior.
“There are not masses and masses of things that need changing. To have a Test average of just over 40 as a keeper you have to be pretty happy.
“I saw a statistic the other day which I took notice of - when Kumar Sangakkara has the gloves he averages 42 in Test matches, without the gloves he averages 89.
“With the keeping, 80% of the time I kept really well, and I was really happy.
“I pretty much thought it was as well as I could keep and have kept in my career. Unfortunately the other 20% of the time I let myself down horribly and to this day I don’t really know why.”
Sussex’s opponents MCC include four full England internationals, including captain Ed Joyce, and a seam attack spearheaded by 30-year-olds Steve Kirby and Charlie Shreck, the latter called in for the injured Alan Richardson (left ankle).
