Prior wants to finish the debate
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Matt Prior might have been surprised to get a late call-up to England's World Cup squad, but is now ready to play a new role. He has been earmarked as the middle-order batsman who can smartly negotiate the crucial overs, usually dominated by slow bowlers in the subcontinent, and fill the vacant finishing position created by Eoin Morgan's absence.
"I am actually looking forward to it," Prior said when asked if he was ready to come back to the middle order, having played predominantly as an opener during half his one-day career. He agreed with the popular opinion about this World Cup; that the biggest challenge for the batsman will come from the spinners, who will have a big say on pitches that will stay low. To counter the danger, Prior said the batsmen had to be creative.
"The thing I am excited about it is the mentality of going into it and the way I have been asked to play," Prior said, a day after landing Nagpur, where England begin their campaign, against Netherlands on Tuesday. "It is actually a very positive move for me. The middle overs will be very important, playing spin and also the seam bowlers who bowl cutters and slower balls. To try and manipulate the ball around the field is going to be an important part of playing in the subcontinent, something I am pretty confident about doing.
"The moment anyone says the word 'finisher' you panic a little bit because it carries a lot of responsibility," he added. "But I love being part of the team. You want to be covering the wheel, you want to be one of those members who wins games or helps set up wins. In that sense being the finisher gives that responsibility. Hopefully I can embrace it and do well knowing that is going to be an important part in the World Cup."
Yet, the enthusiasm in Prior's voice cannot hide his struggles in the past as an opener. He was picked straight after England's debacle in the previous edition of the World Cup in the Caribbean, never managed to cement his position as a batsman and was dropped three times in the next four years as England constantly shuffled the pack.
He has played predominantly in the top order, opening in over half (32) of the 62 matches he has played for England, where he has an average of 25. However, the failure of Craig Kieswetter and Steven Davies to impress helped Prior return to the one-day fold in Australia after a ten-month hiatus. Also he was returning on the back of his maiden Ashes century in the final Test in Sydney.
Prior was hungry to prove his credibility. At the same time he was a little desperate, too and in his first two matches he scored ducks. An aggressive 67 in Adelaide, which laid a strong platform for Jonathan Trott, who hit a match-winning century, bought him more time. That was England's lone victory in the seven-match series. But his inability to convert starts, an old disease which he never could eradicate, returned.
"The frustration for me was probably that 67, where I was playing well and could've gone to get a big score. If you go on and get a big 130 or something like that then suddenly those two noughts become irrelevant," Prior said. "When you get in you have got to make sure you play that innings that wins the game."
Meanwhile, Andy Flower and Andrews Strauss decided to open with Kevin Pietersen, who had a successful Indian tour with England A tour in 2004 as an opener which meant another move for Prior. He believes playing lower down the order in the two warm-up matches this week allowed him to find a "tempo", something he missed to build as an opener. Against Canada and Pakistan in the Prior had scores of run-a-ball 74 batting at No. 6 and a 24-run cameo at No. 7 respectively.
"It is a strange one," Prior said on the most suitable batting position for him. "I have always thought that opening is where my game is better. But the role I am going to play in the middle overs, something I did in the last couple of games, I have found the tempo. If I were to get that tempo right when I was opening I could be very, very successful."
Luckily he is found strong support with Flower and more recently Stuart Broad saying Prior will be England's mainstay against spinners. Prior agreed he had his strong points against spin, acknowledging the help of Pakistan legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed, England's spin bowling coach, who was a team-mate at Sussex.
"One of the biggest factors was having Mushy play at Sussex and seeing how devastating it could be if you had a good spinner and knowing on the other side that as a batter when you come against a good spinner you need a good plan, pretty foolproof plan.
"The main thing I always look at in nets visualising where the fielders and trying to make sure that I am hitting gaps rather than hitting at fielders," Prior added. "That is the main thing of playing spinners. The spinner obviously wants fielders in positions where he wants to bowl the ball and you have got to get and try and move them into a place where you feel more comfortable hitting the ball. I enjoy that part of the
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