Prior plans long-term

Matt Prior claims England can learn much from this week's encounters with West Indies

Matt Prior insists England must use this week’s NatWest Twenty20 internationals against West Indies to lay down a marker ahead of the World Cup in South Africa later this year.

The back-to-back games at the Brit Oval on Thursday and Friday have been put into a new context by the development of the new international tournament.

No longer can Twenty20 internationals be considered one-off hit-and-giggle affairs if England are to ensure they are fully prepared for the World Cup in September.

And Prior said: “It’s very important you keep focus on what your end-game is and for England that is to be the best team in the world.

”Every win takes you that much closer. This week is not just a jolly - it is important stuff. We want to take these Twenty20s seriously and we want to win.”

Thursday’s match represents England’s first since Paul Collingwood was named one-day captain, and the first limited-overs series since Peter Moores took over as coach.

“It will be different,” Prior added. “It is a clean slate, we have new faces in the squad and it is a very exciting time.

“It is fantastic to have Mooresy there. He knows my game well from when he was my coach at Sussex and, on top of that, he is a fantastic coach, a fantastic motivator and he is able to get the best out of people.

Prior has hailed the impact of England coach Peter Moores

”Andy Flower and Allan Donald have come in and been brilliant. It has created a very good atmosphere in the dressing room and an atmosphere that is allowing people to go out and perform.”

England’s 14-man one-day squad included two new faces in Warwickshire batsman Jonathan Trott and Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas.

Despite being overlooked for the World Cup, Prior has nailed down the wicket-keepers’ role - reward for a brilliant start to his Test career.

Prior began the npower Test series with a debut hundred at Lord’s and finished with an average of 64.80, a statistic bettered only by West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul and England team-mate Kevin Pietersen.

There is a suggestion Prior could be elevated up the order as England look to attack the early powerplays in a change of tactical approach from the World Cup.

With the England squad meeting up on Monday evening, Prior is not aware of what Moores has planned.

But if he does open the batting, he will not only shoulder the responsibility of rattling up quick runs but also piling up the cash.

England’s sponsors Vodafone have vowed to donate £50 to charity for every run scored in the match.

Prior added: “You want to earn as much money as possible and hopefully England can earn more - because that means we will have won!”

But England expect West Indies to be far tougher opponents in the limited-overs format than they were in slumping to a 3-0 Test series defeat.

“I think they will be more dangerous. You have to respect the players they have. Someone like Chris Gayle can take the game away from you in 10 overs.

“It is going to be a tough series, definitely,” said Prior. “But we also have some very, very good players.”