Matt Prior has cemented his place as England's No 1 wicketkeeper with a number of impressive displays.
Being a world-class keeper and decent batsman is not enough for England, as the outstanding Essex wicketkeeper James Foster has discovered.
Keepers must aspire, unlike the specialist batsman or bowler, to be a master of all trades. Prior, at 28, is pretty close, the Daily Mail reports.
It has been a rocky road for a man born in Johannesburg and who lived in Brighton as a teenager. First, his keeping was questioned, then an attitude that was considered too brash.
Even now that he is performing at a very high level with both bat and gloves, it is still not enough to earn him a place in England's limited-overs side, where Foster, Kieswetter and Davies have been preferred to him over the last 18 months.
Prior has an impressive Test average of 53 when batting at No 7.
Prior, as he approaches Friday's first Ashes tour warm-up game against Western Australia in Perth, is in 'a very good place'.
'The Pakistan series was fantastic for me,' said Prior, who scored a century at Trent Bridge in the first npower Test and an unbeaten 84 at The Brit Oval.
He added: “As a keeping all-rounder you are always aspiring to perform well at both skills and against Pakistan I was at the level I want to be. Now, I expect to stay there.”
