Ideally you should be oblivious to what is being written and said about you, especially when the chips are down. Ideally you should back the skills that have brought you so far, and if there's something to be improved, it should be done in the off-season or during a break. But does it work that way? Ask anyone who has been out there in the middle and knows what it's like to be in the doghouse and the answer will an overwhelming "No".

When you play international cricket, you're exposed to a world where every move is watched, every achievement appreciated, and every weakness exposed. A lot of experts and ex-cricketers are always around, waiting to spot flaws, writing and speaking about them, dissecting each one in gory detail, though they're only doing their jobs and, to give them credit, they're also generally willing to help you iron out those chinks.

Still, you end up with too much information and a limited span of time in which to act on those recommendations. You need to first assess if it's worth taking that information on board - you need to consider if it fits in with your game, since many of these people who are offering advice will not have watched your career develop and grow over the years, and one man's medicine could be another's poison. Second, even if you do decide to change things, there's hardly any time between Test matches, or even series, to do so. You desperately want to improve, impress and perform, and when things aren't going well it does seem that the entire world is against you. It's only human to try and change something in your technique if you think that could have a positive influence on your performance. But by doing so you tend to forget the task at hand.

In Prior's case, when something has gone wrong, when he has conceded a bye or dropped a catch or messed up a chance for someone else by trying too hard (like when he dived in front of Andrew Strauss during this Test, attempting to take what would have been a sitter for first slip), it's quite natural to think about that little shimmy.

After having myself gone through the process of trying to change things in next to no time and failing, I can say for sure that Prior isn't as bad as he is being made out to be. He must have, in the past, kept better than he is keeping now; a major reason for his falling apart could be a lack of belief in his skills and an inability to handle being exposed under pressure.

Excessive criticism can lead to self-doubt and I can assure you that when you are just starting out on an international career, it is natural to doubt yourself. At least the first time around. It requires tremendous character, lots of confidence, and a strong belief in your skills to turn a blind eye to everything that's being written and said about you. During this time you desperately need someone, someone you admire and respect, to put an arm around your shoulder and tell you to chill a bit, focus on doing the things that brought you this far, and give yourself time to get your act together. I hope someone's chatting to Prior.

I still fail to see what Chris Read did wrong. Prior might be able to bat but he certainly can't keep. Do England want a proper keeper or a backstop?! with Prior they have the latter!

He talks a lot.. As a new commer he should respect seniors no matter which naionals they are.. To learn the manners this is a god punishment for him... anyways he's a capable player so he deserve a place in the team specially as a batsman. This guy got a good future if he stopped acting bit too smart... Good Luck Prior

Look at successful wicket keeper batsmen like Alec stewart, Kumar Sangakkara, Gilchrist... Learn from them... How down to earth this people are! This guy got the talent but not popularity because of this missing good manners...try to improve that and people will still be with you in ur ups and downs..

Should the critics lay into Prior? Thats their job, thats what they are paid for my the newspapers - to disect and provide detaled analysis. I guess the question should be 'Should Prior feel like its the end of the world?' and the answer is 'No'. He has dropped some crucial catches but what made it worse was the chatter he gave behind the stumps. Guess, he upped the stakes with the banter and his gove-work exposed him and the experts took the opportunity to tear him apart. However its not the end of the world for Prior. He can take some heart from the manner in which Saurav gaunguly bounced back. Technique can always been worked upon and he has age on his side.

I'm astonished no-one mentions Paul Nixon in this debate. He was Prior's predecessor, was a success in the World Cup, is a class wicketkeeper/batsman and invigorates his team with his enthusiam.

The critics should lay off Prior for a bit and give him another chance. The Eglish team should encourage into playing his best him and not pressure instead. Just look what happenned to Andrew Strauss.

Often, what you say about others reveals more about yourself than it does about the other. I feel that this is absolutely true with the average critic, who does not have the courage to confront his or her own inner demons but has the gall to take another to task. Yes, Prior has had a bad series, as many wicket-keepers have had in the past. It is unfortunate that we exalt those who do well only to reserve the right to mow them down should they fail to meet our expectations.

Chirping aside, I believe Prior has done no more harm to himself than Dhoni has to his own reputation as a batsman-keeper. A dropped catch whether it be of a great batsman in the autumn of his career or an upstart in the spring of a day-dream, is just that: a dropped catch.

Lying on his death bed, years from now, Prior would not be as concerned about a dropped catch many summers past, but whether or not he was a good man, a good father, brother, husband and friend. Cricket, as riveting as it could be, is just a game and as all games are meant to be, merely an ornament to life that we flash about in season and in the occasional moment of insecurity or insanity.

Chin up Prior. You will prove them wrong. If not in Cricket, definitely in life.

Lay off him. Nobody can go from being the hero he was after the West Indies series to being "the devil" as some sections of the media now want to call him. The erratic bowling, in both series, that he has been expected to tidy up would try the patience of even the greatest keepers. He has, in fact, held the vast majority of catches that have come his way and it is only because of the flack he attracted for dropping Tendulka, and it wasn't the easiest chance either, that persuaded the feral beasts that he was now a good target. The ferocity of the attacks clearly dented his confidence, causing him to dive in front of Strauss for the Laxman catch. That happens. Keepers have to make split second judgments and he has acknowledged that he got that one wrong. You can see that he is already an important member of the team, he encourages the bowlers which all Test wicketkeepers now do, and he is capable of hitting a lot of runs, or defying some excellent bowling as he did at the end of the last Indian Test. Give him a break, he has the guts to prove the critics wrong, and they are certainly well over the top at present.

I think Akash Chopra is right on the money. before we call fro the guillotine let us give the lad a bit of time in the middle shall we believing in the old adgae one swallow does not make the summer. After all priro is only 24 and can still improve. I personally believe he is a good find and a good lower order bat.If the England selectors have an ounce of brain in theier combined heads they stick with him for atleast another couple of series, because failure like sucess should be consistent before you write an epitaph on some one's international carrer.

very well written Akash sir, but i would just like to say this: Matt Prior is just picked for using words and distracting batsman. As you saw in the first/second test match here Kartick was batting and he pulled out because of nonsense talking behind him. He is a devil for dropping two catches. However, as i am an indian supporter and a big fan of you, i would like to congratulate this team for this victory after 21 long years. Hopefully this winning streak can continue. So Akash sir, when are you making a comeback into this indian side? (joking)

IMHO Chris Read is a better glove man than Prior could ever hope to be. Oh and his first class batting average this year is in the mid 60s, 13th out of the top 20. I think he has been unjustly overlooked.
ps he's not a relative!

Certainly Prior should be told of his failure as a wicket-keeper, and helped to improve his deficiencies. Yet, overwhelming him with criticism may destroy rather than help him. The selectors are the ones who should be criticized. Prior is not and possibly will never be England's best keeper. It is time that Reid assume his rightful role in the test team. It is better to have an excellent keeper who might score runs that a poor keeper who promises to score runs.

Why is it that whenever something negative happens in International Cricket you can always rely on an Australian to be the biggest critic? What upsets me is that Adam Gilchrist had an absolute shocker of an Ashes tour in 2005 yet no Australian came forward and criticised him! Perhaps the Aussies should mind their own backyard and not worry about the rest of the world. As for Prior, lets all relax a little, he's new on the scene and I'm sure that he's got enough character to roll with the negatives and turn them into positives with some good practice. He's only young and he's got his entire career in front of him to develop and learn from his mistakes. In any caes my vote lies with Chris Read.

Prior was much too lippy for words---supposedly, a man who plays the game "hard "(in the words of those including some in his team and management) . So when some hard stuff deservedly ecomes his way for consistently pathetic performance , nobody should whine at his predicament and search for excuses. He would have had it much more easy if he had kept his mouth shut & let the gloves and bat do the talking.Perhaps he couls go for a consolatory ride on a Porsche.

Bring back Nixon!!!!!

prior has been picked on enough. if any experienced player faired poorly, it would be labelled as a bad patch, so he should be permitted the same. He has paid for his errors and lip service in full now let him recover and prove his worth.

A bad day, a bad innings, even a bad match can, in the longer view of things, be dismissed for whatever reason and written off as just one of those things. A bad - neah calamatous series - cannot. Look, Prior is not even first choice keeper for his county, so why does Peter Moores think he's first choice for his country - and it is undoubtedly Moores' play that Prior has the gloves, since even in Fletcher's desperation to kick Read in the teeth once more in Australia, he turned to Nixon and not Prior. I have never seen or heard of anyone conceding 33 byes in an innings before at any level of cricket, including my local 3rd team on a Sunday with a makeshift back-stop. Prior was keeping to test bowlers on a snooker table pitch, and the only reason for his abject performance is his technique and ability level - neither are test standard and it is a fact that if this is the case at 25, it will be the case thereafter. Against the Aussies in 2005 Jones' inadequacies behind the stumps (dropped chances, missed stumpings) were outweighed by the Aussies own death wishes and bad luck, but there is no place in a test match for anything but the best stumper available - every man and dog knows that is Chris Read.
Dear Selectors, consider this - if the keeper in the 2005 Ashes series had conceded an average of 10 byes per inings as Prior has, what would the result of that Nation-lifting series have been...2-1 to the Aussies, maybe 3-1 if 33 had been conceded in the 4th test.

Prior is the worst wicket keeper I have ever seen playing for England. His batting is an irrelevance when his keeping is at its current low standard - much has been made of England's, admittedly very erratic, quick bowling but there were many balls that were made to look a lot worse than they were by Prior's execrable anticipation and footwork. I would favour the return of Chris Read, but there are other options such as James Foster, Tim Ambrose and even Paul Nixon, not to mention the promise of Steven Davies and Andrew Hodd (ironically Prior's Sussex team mate and a far superior keeper).

Yes, there has been a lot of comments about Prior's keeping in this series. Let us not forget that the oval test was more important to England and their anxiety levels were more than India because they had to win to level the series. Every player is open to criticism and imagine our own Parthiv Patel dropping catches and stumpings at crucial stages in Australia which cost us dearly. But then we could find replacement in Dhoni, who again was found wanting when standing to our spinners, Kumble and Harbajan. But then he had a willingness to learn and correct his shortcomings. That is what is required by Prior. He has to work on his basics and improve his wicket keeping instead of panicking which is neither going to be good for him nor for England.

Yes, there has been a lot of comments about Prior's keeping in this series. Let us not forget that the oval test was more important to England and their anxiety levels were more than India because they had to win to level the series. Every player is open to criticism and imagine our own Parthiv Patel dropping catches and stumpings at crucial stages in Australia which cost us dearly. But then we could find replacement in Dhoni, who again was found wanting when standing to our spinners, Kumble and Harbajan. But then he had a willingness to learn and correct his shortcomings. That is what is required by Prior. He has to work on his basics and improve his wicket keeping instead of panicking which is neither going to be good for him nor for England.

This whole sorry mess is the fault of the ECB, who've failed to pick a specialist wicket-keeper - and England haven't had one of those consistentlk in the team since Jack Russell a decade ago. Alec Stewart, Geraint Jones and now Matt Prior, the good, the bad and the demented, all batsmen who keep in their spare time. Chris Read is the man to lead England out of this sorry mess, especially so if you've got two spinners bowling in tandem in Sri Lanka; missed chances will prove more costly than the runs the likes of Jones or Prior will score - and lets face it, they haven't been doing a very good job of that either.

It is unbelievable to me the number of times the focus is on the puppet instead of the mastermind. A billion cricket fans focus on Chappell vs. Ganguly while the BCCI's ineptitude is completely ignored. It is clear to me that Peter Moores picked Prior over Read and Nixon because he was the guy who was best going to support his "tough team tactics". So Prior did as he was told - he was mealy mouthed, constantly irritating and probably a genius at his ability to handle jelly beans even with his oversized gloves. Unfortunately his form with the bat and gloves fell well below his excellent communication skills, and made him an easy target for the series loss to India. Why isn't anyone talking about sacking Moores instead of Prior? Who is more responsible for the loss? It is typical of sports, politics and industry that the goon in the headlights is sacrificed while the maestro behind the scenes gets away with murder.

First and foremost, Prior should shut up. I think he was too much into talking that got him in trouble with keeping. Because as we all know, keeping is no easy job. You need absolute concentration for every single ball. Just look at keepers like Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara (Who is averaging almost 55 in tests) and learn from them. They dont get involved in unnecessary talk with the batsman, because if the batsman reacts in such a way, it could completely upset the basics of wickeet keeping.

Having said that, I still believe Prior should be given another chance. He's young, got talent and it's just that he may have had a bad series. And for India with an inexperienced bowling attack, it was a great series win with alien conditions to them.

So Prior just shut and put up and you'll be just fine.

Criticism MUST lay on Prior, it was extremely disappointed to see that pathetic performance at The Oval. However, Prior definity have the potential to be a world class keeper, but only though heavy criticism, believe me, mistakes are the best thing to learn from if you want to get better and better. At the end of the day, Prior has only 7 test caps to his name, still have a lot to learn, but mind you, at the beginning of your test career you don't want to have too many mistakes otherwise doesn't give a matter that you are new to test cricket, you are drop for the rest of your cricket career! So what I suggest Prior to do now is keep your head down, practise hard and produce a satisfactory performance for at lease 2 years, by the end of the 2 years, you'll have the experience and techiques to become a great test keeper. But mind out there are always another keepers waiting in the wings if Prior doesn't deliever a satisfactory performance, with people like Read, Foster, Nixon......So get yourself in gear Prior, and gd luck!

Honestly, it is not right of us to expect so much of Matt Prior. He was drafted into the team because of his batting abilities. He is in the team to maintain the balance of the team. I feel that he is not a very bad keeper. He just needs to improve technically. For instance, when he dives, instead of taking 2 to 3 steps and then dive, he just dives and because of that he is unable to maintain his balance. He must take a long time of the game and look at these minor issues, and definitely must improve his batting against spin.
As far as sympathy is concerned, this is test cricket. You need A-grade wicket-keepers and exceptional batting abilities are needed only in traces. And England, will suffer if they continue to play part-timers in Test cricket at least. Surely, they can use Chris Read.

Dont play international cricket if you can't handle critics.

Prior forgot that his primary duty as a wicketkeeper is wicketkeeping and not sledging.

When Sky reported that some of the sledging he did was usign indian accent he lost all respect. What is the difference between him and some low life?

ALso sledging should STOP when the batsman is set to receive the delivery.

He's an English wicketkeeper, therefore it doesn't matter how good he is, after one tiny mistake, people are after his blood. Unfortunately that's how it is, especially from the ridiculously fanatical Chris Read fans. Read isn't actually very good, certainly not as good as people say. Prior obviously should be persevered with, it would be nice to see how he can do without people criticising him for having the wrong eye colour, or whatever they will have a go at him for next. If they must drop him, please ignore Read and Jones, pick Foster or Davies or Hodd or Ambrose or Mustard please.

well....dis debate will occur if any record or any series is lost, England after a long time hav lost home series so my opinion to ECB is just give the same players confidence and trust Matt Prior one more time bcoz dis bad phase occur in every players life nd I feel Prior should get one more chance to prove himself wat is he capable of!!! nd yeah when expectations are lot from players dis all happens, so no need to worry dis Engalnd team is waking up nd youngsters r giving dere 100% and i am sure this team will become on of d most successful team of all time England, and Micahel Vaughan has done excellent captaincy in dis series so all d best guyz!!!!!!!!

well....dis debate will occur if any record or any series is lost, England after a long time hav lost home series so my opinion to ECB is just give the same players confidence and trust Matt Prior one more time bcoz dis bad phase occur in every players life nd I feel Prior should get one more chance to prove himself wat is he capable of!!! nd yeah when expectations are lot from players dis all happens, so no need to worry dis Engalnd team is waking up nd youngsters r giving dere 100% and i am sure this team will become on of d most successful team of all time England, and Micahel Vaughan has done excellent captaincy in dis series so all d best guyz success is not far from u!!!

Let Prior have it! The guy talked the talk and failed to walk the walk the walk. Go back to county cricket where you belong.

After watching Matt Prior in the recent test series, I have mixed feeling about the wicketkeeper from Sussex. Instead of dwelling more into the prior episode, let's just look at the quality of players england is producing these days. English cricket has one of the most best domestic circuit setup along with australia. Inspite of this they are producing fringe players at the international circuit and wicketkeeper position is one of them. Before prior it was Chris Read, Geriant jones,Paul Nixon who all are bits and pieces cricketers. It's really sad that english cricket cannot produce a real quality wicketkeeper of the status of a Gilchrist,boucher or sangakkara. It has something to do with the basic setup. Tomorrow if you recall Paul Nixon as a replacement to Prior, he would score a century againast say bangladesh or WestIndies and be branded as an answer to england's wicketkeeping problems. So all I say is it's not to blame individual players it's the administration of counties and ECB to take blame..

Of course he ought to be criticized and to an extent even be blamed for the defeat. But it is not such a big deal really. Such things happen and no one can doubt prior's ability. But i still dont understand why nixon was dropped in the first place. And most surprisingly why no one even raised an eyebrow when he was dropped. Without a doubt he is far better than Prior

Some of the critics are critical of Prior's technique because he isn't a "pure" keeper like Chris Read or James Foster. Chris Read got screwed by Duncan Fletcher and that is forever to his shame. That man ruined a fine wicketkeeper.

So the debate is whether to have a pure keeper or one who isn't as pure but is believed to get more runs with the bat. Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara have redefined the keeper/batsman role and, just as the English fixation with finding a new Ian Botham, England are obsessed with finding a new Gilchrist.

Bottom line is that Prior's mistakes cost England a test match. You don't drop Tendulkar or Laxman without paying the price.

And anyone who played a part in the Jellygate episode deserves a bloody good roasting anyway. Or maybe Prior should try and catch the ball in his large mouth.

Ian Chappell's comments may seem harsh but they're accurate. Will Peter Moores play favourites like Duncan Fletcher did in favouring Geraint Jones over Chris Read? Will Prior work hard on his game and improve? Only time will tell.

I think the England fans should lay off him. He had a bad series, give him a chance.
On the other hand, I say the rest of us keep laying into him as to make his performaces, and so England's, terrible so that our teams may win!

The whole world knows Read is the better keeper. Not only that, but he has rarely been given a chance to bat against such weak opposition as the Windies to further his batting claims. Perhaps he could experiment with the use of jelly beans and gamesmanship in the county game to impress the powers that be? After all, that is what they seem to want to the exclusion of genuine talent!

Realistically, he has had two poor games. Geraint Jones was consistantly awful behind the stumps and he never got anything approaching this amount of criticism. And none if it is constructive criticism either, its not as though he can't just keep working on his keeping.

Can somebody remind me why Read was dropped in the first place??? Prior as a batsman is a quailty county player but the less said about the shocking glovework displayed during this series the better. A wicketkeepers job is to keep wicket and keep wicket Prior is not. Surely it is safer to hold onto catches that could cost runs than drop catches and rely on the keeper to make up the runs given away with his batting. Drop Prior pick Read or Foster.

Prior had an absolute shocker with both the bat and the gloves. Cricket is a one ball game when you are wielding the willow so I'm not concerned about the first innings duck, but to consistently miss things behind the stumps is a definite worry. Half of a game of cricket is played in the field, and about half of what is done on the field involved the 'keeper in some way. An excellent keeper behind the stumps makes a masive difference to the spirit of the fielding team, an untidy one lowers morale.

I would give Prior the tour of Sri Lanka to prove that this series was an aberration, then I would consider giving Read an extended run - Prior no knows the level he has to attain, whilst Read has done everything he can in county cricket and deserves a fair go at producing it in a Test match. No return yet for Jones though, he has had his chance and hasn't demonstrated that he has improved.

Matt Prior has had a tough time but lets give him some more oppurtunities.He played very well against West indies and i tink shld perform better with time.ALso congrtas to Men in Blue for their achievement,The whole country is proud of you guys.Well done and keep the momentum going!!

Anyone who gains exposure as an international sportsman is bound to be put under the microscope in instances of exceptional success or failure, so Prior should expect criticism given his recent performances, but not make too much of it, especially seeing the idiocy these critics are heartily indulging in.
What for instance, has Prior's mouth got to do with his glove-work? I thought it was his footwork that was the problem; why, then, is there developing a fixation with his mouth instead? Is being too chirpy a technical flaw in wicket-keeping? Does it somehow prevent the ball from lodging safely into the gloves all the time? Or is his mouth work somehow the cause of his inadequate footwork? No! The two are completely and utterly unrelated. "How can I improve my wicket keeping?" is the operative question here, and the answer to that is not "Shut your mouth." That doesn't solve anything. He can be quiet as a mouse, but that won't do anything for his footwork.
Similarly, his being a good batsman is not the cause of the problem either. The issue is simply a technical error which can be rectified.
Over here, Mr. Ian Chappell merits special mention for his reductive comments with regards to Prior, and his cheap shots at what was undoubtedly the most exciting and hard fought Ashes Series in a long time. Prior, contrary to what Chappell thinks, is not going to maintain a poor standard of keeping throughout the rest of his career, just as he could not maintain the excellent batting form he was in at the start of the summer, and will, hopefully, improve with time. My best wishes to him, and I urge him not to pay heed to detractors whose reasons for detraction are as ridiculous as one Ian Chappell's.

I don't know but what I do know is that Aakash Chopra is the best serious cricket writer on Cricinfo. No bombast like most of the others simple, informative, clear and candid writing. Keep it up, it is a pleasure reading your articles!!

Anyone who gains exposure as an international sportsman is bound to be put under the microscope in instances of exceptional success or failure, so Prior should expect criticism given his recent performances, but not make too much of it, especially seeing the idiocy these critics are heartily indulging in.
What for instance, has Prior's mouth got to do with his glove-work? I thought it was his footwork that was the problem; why, then, is there developing a fixation with his mouth instead? Is being too chirpy a technical flaw in wicket-keeping? Does it somehow prevent the ball from lodging safely into the gloves all the time? Or is his mouth work somehow the cause of his inadequate footwork? No! The two are completely and utterly unrelated. "How can I improve my wicket keeping?" is the operative question here, and the answer to that is not "Shut your mouth." That doesn't solve anything. He can be quiet as a mouse, but that won't do anything for his footwork.
Similarly, his being a good batsman is not the cause of the problem either. The issue is simply a technical error which can be rectified.
Over here, Mr. Ian Chappell merits special mention for his reductive comments with regards to Prior, and his cheap shots at what was undoubtedly the most exciting and hard fought Ashes Series in a long time. Prior, contrary to what Chappell thinks, is not going to maintain a poor standard of keeping throughout the rest of his career, just as he could not maintain the excellent batting form he was in at the start of the summer, and will, hopefully, improve with time. My best wishes to him, and I urge him not to pay heed to detractors whose reasons for detraction are as ridiculous as one Ian Chappell's.

The only reason Prior has been singled out and journalistically-lynched is because of his annoying chatter and failure to put his money where his mouth is. Had he kept his trap shut and at least appeared to be an honest trier (which by all means, he might be) the I'm sure the verdict on Prior would be the following:
"Has potential, needs some more work"

No,Matt Prior shouldn't be discouraged the way he is right now.He's still new to international cricket and if he loses his confidence now he will never be good enough in the long term.He just needs to work on his accuracy and footwork with more experienced former keepers like Jack Russel or Alec Stewart who did the job for England for a long time.As far as his batting is,it's not that bad.He made a couple of good contributions in the series.He just needs to improve in a few areas.Everyone has a bad series once in a while.As for Ian Chappel,He shouldn't be judging everyone the way he does after every series.After all he ain;t ever been a wicket-keeper.So shut your yap man.If you feel that way go help him out yourself.

Leave Him Alone!!!!!!! He has just started, give him a chance to get into it instead of tossing him out like every other keeper you get.

If he had kept his mouth shut and not engaged in unnecessary banter, there may still be some sympathy to be shown towards him. However in his case, he failed to put his money where his mouth is and in the process made himself look utterly stupid- and thats what got everyone's goat. You dont utter rubbish constantly in order to irritate batsmen and then expect that your own performance wont come under scrutiny. Had he batted well and scored a few more runs, the criticism would not have been so severe.

as an aussie, i hope england keep using prior to continue their tradition of picking guys for their batting...people kept hammering on about gilchrist as a keeper batsman, that doesn't take away how important someone like ian healy was to the australian side. england should be picking prior in the one dayers, and read in the test matches. its this policy of having too many all rounders, cause your specialists aren't good enough in the first place (or your not prepared to back them) no team remembers when picking these keeper batsmen that sangakkara and gilchrist could still keep pretty well.

If Matt Prior got the chance to play International Cricket, that only means that he has/had what it takes to be a Test Crciketer. It's very important that England support him. There is no doubt that he is a better batsman than so many other wicket keepers. There is no point in starting the seacrh again instead of letting Matt Prior improve his keeping. He will be very good player against Australia. Because against Australia, you need all rounders. And Australians, through media or whatever, will try to unsettle the team. If you look at it right now, it's majority of Australians, who is crticizing Matt Prior. Flintoff also was not very solid at batting at the start but he turned out to be match winner for England. And same would be true for Matt. He just need the wholehearted support of the England selectors/board. In this era, you need allrounders and fighters. Matt should just ignore all the criticisms and focus on his strngths.

Prior should let his gloves and Bat do the talking and keep his mouth shut. Also before driving a Ferrari you need to learn to drive a basic car may be a Maruti. He fully deserves his criticism because he had become too cocky after a few tests to a weaker opposition like the West Indies. If he behaves like the way he did against Australia he will be virtually eaten alive.

Yeah.. a poor series by Prior. I actually believe the critism wouldn't be so bad if he learn't how to shut his gob on the field. His keeping was amateur at times and when it wasn't like that it was apalling. Not all of it is his fault however. The EBC should be slammed for their selection of Matt Prior. They should have had better sense than to pick him. James Foster is in far better wicketkeeper. The EBC may be that the batting side of a wicketkeeper is more crucial for his selection than his wicketkeeping but in the end it was Prior's wicketkeeping more than his batting(which was also poor) that stopped England from having any real chance of squaring the series.

When Prior had a couple of poor games (and all cricketers do) the wolves were howling. But what's interesting is how little comment anyone has made about his glovework in the first three one day matches. I believe I'm right in saying that he hasn't let a single bye through in any of the three matches. And in every match he has made at least one extraordinary catch. Even Monty's famous run-out depended on quicksilver reactions from the keeper. He may not have scored another century, but the last two games he's played a really useful part in England's successful opening partnership. And he'll get better. Trouble is, there's only one keeper, and the disappointed supporters of every other keeper candidate in the country are just yearning for another Prior mistake. When he drops another catch - which he will, because all keepers do - just wait for the vitriol. But when his keeping is as good as it has been in these three matches, what you get is.............silence