Matthew Prior (cricketer)

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Matt Prior England (Eng)

Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling type	-
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	-	12
Runs scored	-	240
Batting average	-	20.00
100s/50s	-	-/-
Top score	-	45
Balls bowled	-	-
Wickets	-	-
Bowling average	-	-
5 wickets in innings	-	-
10 wickets in match	-	N/A
Best bowling	-	-
Catches/stumpings	-/-	4/1
As of 14 August 2006 Source: Cricinfo.com

Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa) is an English cricketer who has played one-day international cricket for England. Though he is a wicket-keeper for his county team Sussex, his international matches have seen him used as a specialist opening batsman.

Prior has received the Denis Compton Award for young cricketers three times in his career, and has played 88 first class games, 82 of them for Sussex. He has been on two tours with the England A team, and was also selected as back-up wicket-keeper to Geraint Jones on England's tour of Pakistan in 2005–06. He has hit more than 1,000 first class runs in two seasons, in 2003 when he 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 the winter, he was selected for a tour of Zimbabwe, and made 35 in his only match before he was dismissed by Edward Rainsford in a 74-run win. In 2005 he made fewer runs, with 874, but also became Sussex's regular wicket-keeper again after having shared duties with Tim Ambrose the two previous seasons.

The worsening performances did not worry the England selectors, as he was called up again for the 2005–06 tour of Pakistan, and after sitting out in all three Tests Prior was made to open the innings in the ODIs – though Geraint Jones still kept wicket. He made scores of 45 and 32, and was England's third-highest scoring batsman after the first two games, behind Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. He has now been named in the squad for the 2005-06 tour to India.