Prior puts his World Cup surprise down to hard work

(AP)

The feather has not been plucked that could have knocked down Matt Prior. If it suddenly appeared, the scales have not been devised that could weigh it.

Prior had said his cheerios to his England chums, overlooked for the Commonwealth Bank Series of one-day matches and set off to play for the Victoria Bushrangers in the charmingly named KFC Big Bash (one of those events that is cricket but not as we know it).

He had been given his chances in the England one-day team, 54 of them, but had never nailed the spot. It was now somebody else's turn, in this case that of Steve Davies. But with the World Cup at hand and the squad having to be named to comply with ICC regulations, the selectors performed an about-turn. They sent for Prior.

It would have been no surprise had the newly reinstalled wicketkeeper and opening batsman left the nets to offer his observations yesterday covered in bruises from where he had been pinching himself. His international one-day career had been resurrected at the 11th hour and his extreme surprise registered in his features.

"Any time an England squad is selected you are always hopeful and I wanted to be involved and I am delighted to be here," he said. "I always said from the minute I was dropped that I wanted to get back and I would go back to Sussex and work on my game, hopefully improve my game, and I will come back a better player and knock on the door again. Thankfully I have that opportunity to show where I have improved and hopefully I can make that place my own."

Prior has been selected partly because England suspect his game has improved sufficiently and partly because Davies and Craig Kieswetter before him did not quite take their opportunities. But when Davies was handed the wicketkeeping spot in this series it seemed he must go the World Cup.

"Davo and I have come up together through academies and have spent quite a lot of time together," said Prior. "On this tour of Australia as well we have been the keepers' union and have kept each other going and worked hard together.

"It's very, very disappointing when you have been dropped or left out of an England team. He is not the first person it's happened to. I have certainly been there a few times myself and it is an awful feeling. All you can do is dust yourself down and come back hard and I know for a fact he will."

As for Davies, he might have feared the worst after failing to score a fifty in five outings as opener since his bravura 87 against Pakistan when he was called into the side last September. But he had every right still to be stunned.

Davies netted with England yesterday but he is a reserve for the rest of this series. Although he spoke he was hardly saying what was on his mind.

He said: "Naturally I'm very disappointed to miss out on selection for the World Cup and its been a tough couple of days but all I can do is accept the decision the selectors have made and continue to work hard to get back into the England side. I'm aware that there are areas of my game I need to work on and intend to spend the next few months doing just that and prove to the selectors I have the ability to perform at the highest level."

Prior's record whether as opener or middle-order batsman in limited-overs cricket is much the same. Opening he has scored 627 runs in 27 innings at 25.08, elsewhere he has made 439 runs at 25.82. Part of the reason he joined the Bushrangers was to improve his one-day skills rather than "sit in the snow in England." Perhaps subliminally he felt that the World Cup feather would come and it would be easier to be knocked down here than in Sussex.

Perhaps Prior is a better player but if he has not confirmed it by the end of this series, England could be in serious trouble in a World Cup they have serious hopes of winning.