I'll one day be back on a cricket pitch: Matt Prior

Prior missed a Lord’s Test after six years

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has expressed his disappointment in missing the Lords Test last week against New Zealand which his side won. In six years, this was the first time he missed a Test match at Lords with Tim Ambrose being the previous keeper who kept wickets at the Test in 2008.

Prior whose last Test incidentally was at the Lords where his side suffered a defeat to India last year has said that he is still hopeful of playing for his country once he recovers from his surgery completely.

"I hadn't missed a Lord's Test match for six years," Prior said. "The minute I saw Lord's, you know the first Test of the summer is always a really big occasion for any English cricketer, so it was a tough week to watch but made a lot better by England's performance and obviously the win."

"It's still a slow progress unfortunately, it was obviously a very big injury and a big operation and it's quite frustrating, I'm sort of taking two steps forward and four back. But I haven't given up hope that I'll one day be back on a cricket pitch, I love the game and I want to be back out in the middle again."

He also reserved praise for Jos Butler’s performance during the Test even though he conceded 31 byes. "I thought Jos had a fantastic game. Keeping wicket at Lords can be a nightmare, it can make you look and feel ridiculous, with the ball wobbling around - no one knows why it does it but it does, believe me, and you can feel daft. The other thing is that it can ruin your rhythm, it ruins your rhythm, it ruins your confidence but suddenly the half chance comes and you've got to be on it to take that chance.”

"The thing that stood out for me with those two catches, they were two fantastic catches and if he was just a little bit off it he wouldn't have been able to take those chances so it shows that mentally he's in a really good place with his game and with himself and I think that stands the team in really good stead."

He also hailed the appointment of England’s new head coach Trevor Bayliss.