Tuesday, March 24, 2009

England Cricket: Prior Drops Another Match

After England lost their last one-day match to the West Indies thanks to a sensational 100 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, I am wondering if West Indies would have won if Matt Prior had not put down Chanderpaul on 27.
There has been a lot of talk about the South African-born wicket keeper, especially about whether or not he should be England's first choice.

Prior was called up to the England team in May 2007 and showed he was able to bat, hitting 126 not out and a quick 21 off nine balls.

But although he may be able to use the blade affectively in tests, he has yet to prove what he can do with the bat in one-day internationals, nor what he can do behind the stumps. Dropping Chanderpaul sure wasn't too terribly convincing.

Prior has been on and off the team since he arrived. I think he's worth keeping around, but I must ask why England is still choosing him as a wicket keeper.

I think that, assuming he is retained, he should be promoted up the order as a batsman, and we should bring in James Foster as wicket keeper, who has not had a chance for England since 2002.

Foster has been proving how reliable behind the stumps he is for Essex for quite some time now, but he still has not got a call up to England.

Prior's got a chance of sticking around, but England really needs a new wicket keeper if they want to succeed in cricket.

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