Legacy of Matt Prior

Following the Buttler heroics at the end of the Indian series and following the revelation that Matt Prior’s injury is worse than feared, even the most ardent fan must admit that a comeback for the wicket keeper is unlikely. The sad end to his career.

Legacy is a weird word. For some, it’s a word only Lord Coe is permitted to use but it’s an important one nevertheless. Everybody’s legacy is important – the mark they left behind.

But what legacy does Matt Prior warrant? Will he go down as one of the greats of England? Or just be forgotten by all bar the dedicated fan?

Firstly, I’ll take a look at his stats. Matt Prior has scored 4099 runs at an average of 40.18. For those who have played 25 tests, only Sangakkara, Les Ames, Andy Flower and Adam Gilchrist have got a better average than Matt’s in all of the history of the game. These are truly impressive stats. Yet, one must feel that Matt Prior never really got the recognition he deserved.

Matt Prior came into the squad as a keeper who could bat and on his debut, he delivered with a fine hundred. But he was dropped less than a year later with his shoddy work behind the stumps.

From then on, it has been impossible to criticise his work ethic. Together with Bruce French, he set about coming the best wicketkeeper in England. And he delivered at that too. He was reliable to the extent that we barely noticed. He started to take the ball in the stumps and pioneered a technique that has revolutionised keeping. It was very impressive.

However, this has all been forgotten in the recent months. He’s been painted as a KP-hater standing for all of the wrong side of the ECB. He’s been used as a scapegoat for Cook’s captaincy, a hinderance in the rise of Buttler, but in my opinion, it’s incredibly harsh.

Matt Prior should be remembered for the all of his great moments. His hundred at Sydney, the amounts of times he scored valuable runs with the lower order and the fantastic catches behind the stumps. Why? Because they were plenty of them, and the positives outweighed the blips.

Matt Prior might go down as one of England’s greatest ever wicket keepers, if not the greatest and it’s fully justified to me. England experienced a period of immense success under Andy Flower and Matt Prior was at the back bone of this. That ever reliable presence in the team.

Personally, I do feel that Buttler is ready to take over the reigns. But that’s not to say Prior is a failure. His record shall remain impressive.

However, for me, I have one memory that shall last. March 2013. Auckland. Stupidly, I stayed up at night with England four down facing defeat. Prior batted for 269 minutes that day and saved the test for England with his 110*. And watching every ball, I appreciated the monumental effort intently. In my opinion, it is one of the greatest innings ever by an Englishman.

At the time, he was called the “greatest wicket keeper batsman in the world”. Two months later, he was England player of the year. And at the time, most sane people thought this was all valid.

However, his such spectacular fall has seen shocking and surprising. It has been such a fast and saddening fall from grace. But, rather than listen to KP and Piers Morgan whose recent tweets have tried to suggest that Prior had an overrated and unimpressive career, I would urge people to appreciate the good times because with Matt Prior, there was plenty.

Women’s cricket – what’s next?

After the unbelievable reaction that my post yesterday got, like a true London bus, I’ve written another one after the five month absence. It’s not as controversial as issue as the KP one, but nevertheless it’s one that is very important to me.

The recent series against South Africa has raised many issues for me. It was brilliant to see the series televised the game on Sky yet some of the comments I saw on Twitter and other social media were highly disappointing.

At the start of 2014, the ECB announced a professional contract package for the women’s cricketers. It was a good move but still not enough. Then came the sponsorship deal with Kia Motors. This shows that quite clearly there is the demand for the women’s game yet there was still a disappointing turnout at Edgbaston for the final T20.

And this is not a problem that solely lies with cricket, spectator numbers for women’s sport are always low with the possible exception of tennis.

I don’t want to turn this blog into a rant against the ECB, it isn’t. As of 2013, there are 60,000 women playing cricket in the UK and this is something that should be applauded. But it doesn’t mean it is the end of the road.

To me, there is one obvious solution to this problem and it lies with free-to-air TV. Sky have been superb with their promotion of the women’s game but there will always be a problem if your audience is so limited.

The important aspect of growing women’s sport is promotion. The Olympics led to a huge rise in participation for sports which have never had so much exposure. This is the same issue with women’s cricket.

During the end of the game against South Africa, there were three moments that really stuck in my mind. A direct hit from Nat Sciver from the boundary rope, a sensational catch from Lydia Greenway the ball afterwards and Sarah Taylor enacting a run out in front of the stumps from a ball at her feet. All three were utterly sensational and in my opinion world class irrespective of gender. Yet there were viewed by a combined TV audience of 12.

Just imagine, if only the BBC would broadcast the game and people could really witness the incredible talents on display. Who is to say that this will not inspire a whole generation of girls to take up the sport. For a whole generation to be able to have their own heroes.

People need to realise that women’s sport has the potential to be as successful as the male equivalent and cricket is a better position than most sports in order to try and boost its popularity. All it needs now as that additional exposure as it is plain to see, the future is certainly bright.

Check out my twitter account @voicefromstands and be sure to comment.

Kevin Pietersen

Firstly, I’d like to state that I’m not writing this blog in order to confrontate or create arguments. I’m not accusing The Full Toss of lying or being factually incorrect and we have had discussions on Twitter about Kevin Pietersen without the need for direct abuse. Instead, like many cricket microbloggers, sport brings us together and the ability to discuss about it is one of its finest features. I’m not by any means at cricket writer (nor have any real intentions of being), just a fan of England cricket wanting to get his views across.

However, I’d nevertheless like to write an alternative view in order to get my opinion across in a more eloquent manner than the 140 characters on Twitter permits.

Firstly, the first series of cricket I ever watched was the 2004-05 series from England against South Africa. As I’m sure most of you are aware, in that series Kevin Pietersen hit three centuries at averaged 151 as he made his mark on the international scene.

Then came along the Ashes, I remember sitting at home watching in awe as Kevin Pietersen hit a phenomenal 158 in order to allow England to regain the Ashes. Ever since that day I was fixed and have watched more cricket than most of my friends would think was sane.

And I loved to watch it too. KP was my hero. I bought his autobiography and as a young 11 year old, I would practice the switch hit whenever possible in order to replicate my idol. He was supposedly invincible.

In 2007, I was at the England vs India game when after requesting an autograph from KP he simply ignored me and then after walking past the second time made a conscientious effort to ignore all of the kids queuing for a picture with an “England legend. “He’s always been arrogant” said another parent beside me and it was the first criticism of KP I had really ever heard. But it stuck.

Arrogance is a difficult concept. Some say it’s good to be confident, others say it’s possible to go too far. KP has always had the air of arrogance about him and his flashy character has had its critics. For some, it is a case of being able to manage his character and in that respect the ECB have failed miserably.

Nevertheless, if Jason Gallian, Mick Newell, Andrew Strauss, Giles Clarke, Peter Moores, Alistair Cook, Paul Downton, Ali Bacher Graeme Smith, Laurie Potter, Mike Bechet and Phil Russell have all managed to have some sort of dispute with KP (based on his autobiography Crossing The Boundary), my guess is that it cannot solely be that it is poor from the ECB. This is not just an anomaly.

One has to question whether KP has ever wondered whether he might be the issue and if a change in attitude is required?

I forgave KP for the captaincy debacle when it happened back in 2009, but my first frustration towards him started in the text gate scandal. Whether or not he did call Strauss a doos is irrelevant, the fact that it undermined the team is undeniable. Throughout the successful period between 2009-2012, many people praised the ECB for the way it created a successful winning environment. Team morale was one of the most important things and Matt Prior has mentioned in his own personal autobiography about the effect of a positive mental approach. However, here in KP was somebody who was willing to go against this basis. Who was willing to send a provocative message about his own captain.

Although dressing rooms may have egos, when they go onto the field, all of these egos are willing and dedicated towards the team. Happy dressing rooms ARE normally winning dressing rooms. The Australian team of the 90’s had plenty of large characters a la Warne etc. Nevertheless, you never hear any stories about how no one liked each other or anyone attempting to undermine the team.

Having played cricket myself, it is undeniable that others can affect your performance. I seen it in my own Sunday team where people don’t play as well because they are moaning about the opposition or annoying teammates. If KP had created that situation in the England dressing room (which APPEARS to be the reason why he was sacked), then that cannot be a good thing.

Whilst writing this blog, I’d just like to address one other argument that #TeamKP supporters make. That is the “way I play” argument. It was a topic that annoyed me, especially during the latter half of Pietersen’s England career.

Perth 2013 was a real low point for me, with Pietersen being caught on the boundary off Nathan Lyon as England are trying to survive and salvage a draw. The argument at the time was that we should not criticise Pietersen as this is the method that has brought him success.

I’m sorry, but has there ever been a more ludicrous claim? Pietersen could have easily knocked the ball down the ground for any easy single. It keeps the scoreboard ticking over and means that England can still bat out for a draw.

A player of Pietersen’s calibre should be able to adapt. Brian Lara was able to hit sixes better than many but he knew he had to play the game situation at all times.

KP has finished his England career with 8181 runs at an average of 47.26. These are undeniably highly impressive stats. However, I can’t help but wonder that if he had adapted to the game situation more often, would he have ended up with an average above 50 that someone with KP’s talent would merit. It would place him up with the greats.

The great cricket philosopher Phil Tufnell once said that “he’s not a great player, he’s a player of great innings”. I don’t think there’s been a truer word said about the KP situation.

Thank you very much for reading this post and before you comment, criticise or abuse, please read that first paragraph once more.

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