Matt Prior-should he be keeper?

[Sureshot]

SkySports showed today that he's already made an improvement overnight with his footwork. He has plenty of keepers around him in the set-up (Moores and Flower) and I know he's working with Stewart. He's only 25, also, name me one player who's gone into international cricket without a problem?

 

[smssia0112]

Exactly, let us not forget how many chances Jones dropped in his first 12-18 months.

I do find it funny how people are questioning his place, yes he has a technical fault, but Jones did to, in fact his was probably worse, I seem to remember him having butter fingers behind the stumps for a while.

You all know I'll back Prior till the end of his career - hopefully with England and very successful - I know he's good enough, he's got a great team behind him (on the pitch and in the dressing room). He has the mentality to improve (I laughed when Athers suggested the papers have got to him and it's a sign he won't cope in the future). His runs have been down a little in this series, he has had a couple of jaffers, but vs the WI he was superb. We gave Jones over 2 years, why not the same with Prior? Especially when he has, imo, much more potential than Jones.

You're comparing him to Jones? That's not exactly a compliment, look how well he turned out...

Interesting that no one here rates the only English keeper that hasn't made a mistake in his most recent series.

 

[Cricketman]

Yes, if India's playing England.
More dropped catches, please

But if I look at it from an english view, I think Nixon is the way to go, good with the gloves and a great bat.
Just because he's old, he can still service the country while he can, right?
Theres always GoJo and Read..

 

[Sureshot]

You're comparing him to Jones? That's not exactly a compliment, look how well he turned out...

Interesting that no one here rates the only English keeper that hasn't made a mistake in his most recent series.

No, I'm comparing his situation to Jones.

If you mean Nixon then picking someone who is almost 37 is pointless.

 

[Animator!]

Lets be honest now, He hasn't just dropped 2 or 3 catches, over the summer he's actually dropped 5 or 6. So let's get the real facts out there.

He isn't a good enough Wicket Keeper to play for England, but it's his batting that he's in there for. If we want a brilliant keeper then we will have to realise that it's not a parallel. Prior has time to improve, he's there for the ODI's, so let's see if he can improve.

There are better Keeepers than him around, but there arent many that scored as many runs as he did.
Read, Foster, Hodd, Greg Wood there are better keepers than him, but if we're going to complain about the standards of his Keeping we can't expect a better Keeper to come in and score as mnay/more runs than him.

It depends on what we want, The runs or the chances taken.

 

[rabeta]

His keeping will improve. Keeping is a much easier art than batting. Therefore, pick a very good batsmen that can keep okay, and let his keeping improve with time. If he puts in the hard work, we will have a very good wicketkeeper.

 

[baburao]

His keeping will improve. Keeping is a much easier art than batting. Therefore, pick a very good batsmen that can keep okay, and let his keeping improve with time. If he puts in the hard work, we will have a very good wicketkeeper.

Example is Rahul Dravid.

 

[rabeta]

Example is Rahul Dravid.

Matt Prior is a better keeper than Dravid.

 

[Leggie]

Matt Prior is a better keeper than Dravid.

yes but unarguably dravid is better at catching.

 

[Animator!]

Watching Rahul Dravid keep made me want to hurt myself.

 

[evertonfan]

Alec Stewart was hardly flawless when he first donned the gloves. He turned out well enough. Give Prior some time.

 

[Leggie]

Watching Rahul Dravid keep made me want to hurt myself.

why?

people have started doubting prior already and i dont think they should as much as they are. when a batsmen gets out for two rubbish scores, okay, theres a bit of doubt, but prior only dropped two catches, i know the two catches were vital (the laxman one only costed 10 runs) ,but i think he has the potentional to be one of englands best keepers, possibly with the bat as well although he got a got a 15 ball duck today :

 

[Animator!]

But at least Prior is naturally a Keeper.
Dravid just looked awful, he didn't even look comfortable taking a ball straight at him.

 

[Simbazz]

For once Matt you speak 100% sense. If Kevin Pietersen dropped six catches in a series...Oh wait!

If Collingwood had a rough patch of not making over 20 runs per match...He'd be in for stick but people would say.."cracking batsmen just in a trot of badluck,"

Prior is simply having a bad match, it happens, its the selectors chance to shine for the next series. If they select him i will have full faith him them, if not, then its the same old panel as when Fletcher was around.

Give the lad a chance hes brand new to this, even worldclass WK'ers like Gilchrist has had bad series.

 

[evertonfan]

The bottom line is, if you want a keeper to catch everything and score a hundred in every match then your standards are ridiculously high. You don't often get keepers who are world class at both disciplines so you have to compromise. We just have to hope that in the future when he drops catches he scores runs and when he doesn't score runs he clings on to blinders. You'll rarely find wicket keepers who consistently perform splendidly on both fronts.