Six and Out - Some Serious Cricket

Matt Prior announces himself to England

by SixandOut on May 20th, 2007

I’m not jumping over any guns here, but Matt Prior has done a very impressive job of saying “cheers” to England coach Peter Moores. Moores, chose to put his faith in the Sussex ‘keeper, and said ‘keeper duly repaid him with a magical century on debut. OK, so it was the 4th century of the innings, with Cook, Collingwood and Bell also managing three figures in the 1st innings of the 1st test against the West Indies, but considering that the England management have it in their heads that they want a wicket-keeper who can bat and that they consistently fail to select me for said role, then it seems like they might have found what they were looking for in Matt Prior.

The way he played his innings was the key thing. We don’t really need a batting keeper who can craft an innings, in the same style that Alec Stewart could. Stewart could open or bat at 6 and still score runs. Our current top order is so strong (on paper) that realistically the ‘keeper is never going to bat higher than 7, 6 at a push and by then what you really need is someone who can go in and score quickly and heavily. Which is exactly what Prior did. In contrast to Cook, Collingwood and Bell who were all scoring around a SR of 50-75, Prior hit his hundred off just over a hundred balls. Perfect. And there’s no problem with confidence either.

Now, it is only against a depleted West Indian bowling attack, at home, at Lord’s on a beautiful track. But you still have to do it. He won’t have to score hundreds every innings, but he has certainly demonstrated that he is capable of getting invaluable runs at the end of the innings.

Let’s just hope he can keep as well.

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