Prior hails dynamic England

Matt Prior insists England's superb form in the NatWest series is down to hard work

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Matt Prior has revealed how a new work ethic has helped England’s resurgence as a one-day team and underpinned their outstanding displays in the NatWest Series against South Africa.

England are one victory away from claiming a series victory over South Africa, who began the five-match series having claimed nine successive one-day international wins, as they prepare for Friday’s third encounter at the Brit Oval.

Impressive performances at Headingley Carnegie and Trent Bridge have established a superiority over the tourists with energetic and vibrant displays with the bat, ball and in the field.

It is a major transformation from earlier this summer, when they suffered their second successive series defeat to New Zealand.

But Sussex wicketkeeper Prior believes the turnaround in fortunes can be traced to a harder work ethic installed by coach Peter Moores and new captain Kevin Pietersen than there was in his previous spell in the England set-up a year ago.

“I noticed the difference from the first moment we turned up in Scotland and did a fielding drill, and straight away I noticed it was different,” Prior said.

“The energy, the buzz, the skill levels and the fitness of the guys was different, which is not saying it was bad when I was in the squad before but there has been an increase in intensity, definitely, and it’s fantastic.

“I don’t think it happens overnight, but it’s down to a lot of hard work. I haven’t been here for a while so I don’t know what the talk has been like behind closed doors but I imagine the difference is down to hard work.

Prior believes England's new outlook on training has been one of the defining factors in their success

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“It’s something I have always believed in, that the harder you work, in the end you will get what you deserve, but it’s not just about hard work, it’s about being clever with it, working on specific skills that might make the difference in the game like hitting the stumps and things like that.”

Pietersen has been the most committed trainer in England’s squad ever since he first broke through four years ago and, with Moores an equally dedicated disciple of the hard work ethic, it is an approach the rest of the squad have now adopted in an attempt to improve as a one-day outfit.

“Having worked with Peter at Sussex, he is very keen on making sure we’re fit, energetic and are getting our skill levels up,” Prior explained.

“The team also has to buy into it so the individuals also have to think this is going to make a difference and make us better. It’s a team effort to make those decisions and get better.”

Part of that shift in emphasis has also been about a desire to improve on their previous performance, no matter how good it has been - which may prove difficult on this occasion having dismissed South Africa for 83 and romped to only their third 10-wicket victory in 495 one-day internationals.

But it will not stop Moores and Pietersen reinforcing that message when the squad assemble at the Brit Oval later today in preparation for tomorrow’s crunch third match in the series.

“The message will be we’ve done nothing yet and that’s quite important,” Prior added.

“It’s been a good two games, but let’s make it three, let’s be really consistent and put in another really good performance.