Matt Prior

Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982) is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed batting enabled him to open the innings in ODI matches, even though he made very limited appearances in shorter forms of the game. With an international Test debut score of 126, Prior became the first English wicket-keeper to hit a century in his debut match in early 2007. His glovework, however, was criticised. Despite a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the bat, Prior's keeping was less successful, and he was dropped from the team for the 2008 tour of New Zealand. He returned for the 2008 series against South Africa, and was retained into 2009, where he became the second-fastest England keeper to reach 1,000 Test runs, behind Les Ames.

Prior was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to England with his family at the age of 11. His mother is South African and his father is English. Prior attended Brighton College during which time he began playing for Sussex County Cricket Club. During his early years he played his colts cricket at St Matthias CC. He is married to Emily, the daughter of former footballer Sammy Nelson, who played for Arsenal F.C. and Brighton & Hove Albion, and has two children.

Prior was the co-owner and chief executive of One Pro Cycling, which raced at the UCI Continental level in 2015, and were promoted to the second-tier Professional Continental level for 2016. The team was disbanded in 2018.

Domestic career Matthew Prior keeping wicket for Sussex during the final of the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy against Hampshire at Lord's. Prior received the NBC Denis Compton Award for young cricketers three times in his career. Matt has hit more than 1,000 first-class runs over the course of two seasons, in 2003 when Matt won the County Championship with Sussex, and 2004, when his 1,158 runs, including 201 not out against Loughborough UCCE, was enough to be top-scorer for Sussex that season. In 2005 Matt made fewer runs, with 874, but also became Sussex's first choice wicket-keeper again after having shared duties with Tim Ambrose in the two previous seasons. Matt has won the County Championship three times (2003, 2006 and 2007) although in 2007 Matt did not take part as much as before due to his England duties. and the 17th English batsman to record the feat overall. Although both Paul Gibb and Billy Griffith scored debut centuries, and although both were wicket-keepers, neither was actually keeping wicket in their debut Test. The last wicketkeeper to make a half century on debut was Jack Russell, who scored 94 against Sri Lanka at Lords in 1988. Prior was one of four centurions in the innings along with Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell. It was the first time since 1938 that four England players scored hundreds in the same innings of a Test match. but decided to continue after speaking with Alec Stewart.

He remained in the side for the return tour of England by the West Indies and reached 1,000 Test runs with 42 in the first innings of the First Test – the second-fastest England wicketkeeper to this mark, behind Les Ames. In the second Test Prior made 63 in the first innings to help England win the game by an innings and 83 runs and clinch the series 2–0.

2009 Ashes He retained his place in the Test side for the 2009 Ashes, despite James Foster's apparently superior ability behind the sticks, as displayed to much acclaim during the World Twenty20. Prior had done well with the bat for Sussex in the County Championship, averaging over fifty, but had not kept wicket due to a hand injury sustained against the West Indies.

Batting at number six, Prior continued his good form with the bat into the Ashes series, scoring a 62-ball 56 in the first innings at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff as England's middle- and lower-order boosted England to 435 all out, and 14 in the second innings as England held on for an improbable draw. In the Lord's victory Prior was bowled for 8 in the first innings as England subsided from 302 for 3 (Andrew Strauss 161) to 425 all out, but contributed a 42-ball 61 in the second innings as England sought quick runs; his partnership with Paul Collingwood added 86 runs in twelve overs. At Edgbaston he scored 41 in England's only innings in a drawn match, and held three catches in each of Australia's innings. Despite suffering from back spasms before the start of the first day, raising doubts as to his fitness to play, Prior offered a lone hand in the first innings at Headingley, scoring 37 not out as England subsided to 102 all out against Australia's seam attack; Prior aside, only Alastair Cook (30) reached double figures. He added a 29-ball 22 in the second innings, sharing a century partnership with Stuart Broad, but could not avert an innings defeat. At the Oval Prior scored only 18 and 4, but produced a sharp stumping on the final day to dismiss Marcus North as England surged to a 197-run victory in the match and a 2–1 victory in the series, thus regaining the Ashes. Prior's series aggregate of 262 runs was higher than any other England player bar Andrew Strauss; his runs had been scored at a Gilchrist-esque strike-rate of 82 per hundred balls.

South Africa Prior was a key member of the squad that toured South Africa. He played in the first three ODIs, although he did not bat until the third match, where he made 16. He took two catches as England won the fourth match convincingly. After the final match was abandoned, England won the series 2–1. Prior struggled in the first Test, making a duck in the first innings and just 4 in the second. England went on to win the second test, with Prior making 60 off 81 balls. His attacking play helped England accelerate the innings and secure a comfortable victory. Prior made 76 in the third test, again scoring quickly as England secured a dramatic draw. South Africa won the final Test to level the series 1–1. Throughout the series Prior was praised for his wicketkeeping and counterattacking batting.

Bangladesh and Pakistan In the first test against Bangladesh Prior could only make 7 runs, although England went on to win the match. He hit a quick fire 62 in the second test as England went on to win the series 2–0. Prior had been one of the senior figures in an experimental team. In the return series, Prior was run out in the first game having made 16. In the following match he made a quick fire 93 which helped to accelerate the innings and guide England to a comfortable win. In the controversial test series against Pakistan, Prior struggled to make an impact in the first two games, recording low scores. However, he made an unbeaten 84 in the third test, which proved to be in vain as England ended up losing the match. England won the series and Prior consolidated himself in the team.

2010–11 Ashes Prior was ever-present in the Test side in England's successful 2010–11 Ashes Series in Australia. He started the series with a golden duck, the second victim of Peter Siddle's hat-trick on the first day of the series. He only managed a top-score of 27 not out in the first three Tests, however he finished strongly in the final two.

In the fourth Test at the MCG, he held six catches in Australia's first innings as they were bowled out for just 98. He followed this up with 85 runs as England won by an innings to take a 2–1 series lead and retain the Ashes with a Test to spare. In the fifth and final Test he scored his first century against Australia from 109 balls, the fastest English Ashes century since Ian Botham's 118 at Old Trafford in 1981. He was the third centurion of England's innings, along with Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, as England scored 644.

Sri Lanka and India Prior played in the test series against Sri Lanka, as he continued to establish himself as a key player. He made 126 in the second game after not having to bat in the first test. In a rain affected match, Prior only made 4, but he did take five catches as England won the series 1–0. This meant that England had the chance to become the number one ranked test team when they played India. Prior hit 71 and 103 in the first test as he continued to stake a claim for being the best wicket keeper batsman in the world. He made another score of 73 in the second test, as England took a 2–0 lead in the series. England went on to win the series 4–0, and became the number one team in the world.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka In the first Test against Pakistan, Prior held the first innings together, making 70 not out to help England reach 192. In the second innings Prior could only make 4 as England again struggled with the bat, being bowled out for 160 and losing the match by 10 wickets. In the second test England again lost, this time by 72 runs. Prior failed to make an impact in either innings as England were bowled out for 72 in their second innings. In the third match of the series, England bowled Pakistan out for 99 runs in their first innings. However, after England collapsed, they lost the match by 71 runs. Prior was stranded on 49 not out in the second innings.

In the first match against Sri Lanka, Prior batted at 6. However, despite making 41 in the second innings, England went on to lose their fourth straight Test match. England won the second match to level the series, with Prior taking four catches and making 11 runs. This meant that they retained their number one spot in the rankings.

South Africa England played South Africa in the summer of 2012, with the winner of the series becoming the number one test team. Prior made 60 in the first innings, leaving England in a strong position. However, South Africa made over 600 and although Prior made 40 in the second innings, England were bowled out on the final day to lose by an innings and 12 runs. Prior made 68 in the first innings of the second test. With England chasing 252 to win, Prior batted at 5 to try and force a result. However, he was run out when on 7 and the match eventually ended in a draw. England lost the final match of the series. After South Africa posted 351 in their second innings, England were set 346 to win. Prior gave England hope, making 73 and batting well with Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad. However, it was not enough and England were bowled out by 294, losing the series 2–0 and their number one spot.

Prior had an indifferent start to the return series in Australia. In the first Test he scored just four runs. He followed this up with an impressive 69 in the second Test. However, in the third test of the series Prior again struggled for form, failing to pass fifty, meaning he had just one fifty in six innings on the tour. With England 3–0 down in the series in Australia, Prior was dropped in favour of Jonny Bairstow. However England still lost the following tests in Melbourne and Sydney as Australia won the series 5–0.

Sri Lanka and India Prior made 86 in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka after almost being given out first ball. He made 16 in the second innings as the match ended in a draw. In the second match of the series Prior made an unbeaten 27 after batting with the tail. In the next innings he was dismissed for 10 after being caught off a short ball. Prior made just five in the first Test against India, although he took six catches behind the stumps. He played in the second test despite fitness concerns, but could only make scores of 13 and 12. England lost the match and Prior later announced that he would be undergoing an operation on his Achilles, ruling him out for the rest of the series.