Cricket World Cup 2011: Matt Prior recalled to one-day squad as wicketkeeping issue continues to blight England

Back in the fold: Matt Prior has been named in England's one-day squad for the World CupPhoto: GETTY IMAGES
By Simon Briggs7:24AM GMT 19 Jan 2011

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In the short term, the decision to recall Matt Prior for Englands World Cup squad was a surprise, considering that Steven Davies was probably only one decent innings away from bagging that spot. And yet, it fits in with all the horse-trading that has surrounded the keepers position over the last eight years.
Since Alec Stewart retired, this has been the insoluble problem of English cricket: the sporting equivalent of Fermats Last Theorem. Eight different men have worn the gloves, or nine if you count James Fosters outing during the World Twenty20. Include emergency fill-ins like Vikram Solanki, Marcus Trescothick and Eoin Morgan and you have a full XI, plus a 12th man to carry the drinks.
Flower - himself a wicketkeeper-batsman of the highest class - clearly feels that the onus is on the individual to nail down the position. He looked irritated when asked if England were being indecisive.
Selection is not an exact science, is it? Flower replied. Before the Pakistan series, Davies was in superb form. He had scored a lot of runs for Surrey, and scored them quickly. He was given a chance to establish himself as our wicketkeeper-batsman. In our opinion, he hasnt done that well enough.
Theres a few things that have developed in the interim: Priors good form towards the end of the Test series, his performance with the gloves, and our judgement that we see him being more useful in the sub-continent than Steven. We think Prior is a stronger hitter of the ball, especially down the ground, and probably a better player of spin.


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