Matt Prior: Another In The List Of Discarded England Wicketkeepers?

In a week in which England have named Tim Ambrose in their ODI squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand, Matt Prior must be wondering what more he has to do to win back his England place.

The Sussex gloveman has had a fantastic start to his season, averaging over 60 in four-day cricket and over 50 in the shorter form of the game. He, like almost everyone else, would have been surprised to see Tim Ambrose given the job in both formats.

England are clearly trying to maintain consistency and stick by their man and indeed Ambrose has the better record in List A cricket, averaging 30 to Prior's 25.

Whilst the current series against New Zealand has not provided many runs for him, in his Test career so far Ambrose's keeping has looked much more assured than Prior's; he seems to have good footwork and an excellent pair of hands.

Barring a disaster in the third Test, he seems a shoe-in for the series against South Africa starting next month, when his batting technique will receive a much sterner test from the likes of Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini than he has faced in his career so far.

The one-day series against the Kiwis will also be interesting for him, as New Zealand are a much better outfit in the 50-over game. If England persist with their tactics of using the 'keeper as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order, Ambrose could face a baptism of fire in the one-day side, although he is more likely to bat in the middle order with Luke Wright opening.

Prior is fast becoming another on the ever-increasing pile of discarded English wicketkeepers, including Paul Nixon, Phil Mustard, Chris Read, Geraint Jones and James Foster.

Peter Moores will argue that Prior had his chance - and blew it; whilst his batting was generally excellent, his keeping looked at times amateur, and in a game where a single dropped catch can be so crucial his healthy batting average can be quickly negated by dropping a batsman who goes on to score a further fifty or more runs.

There is an argument for playing Prior as a specialist batsman at the moment; if Paul Collingwood continues batting like he's holding a broken pencil there could be an opportunity opening up, but with batsman such as Essex's Ravi Bopara on such good form Prior is surely some way down the pecking order.

It seems inevitable that Prior will get another chance as England wicketkeeper at some point - such is the England wicketkeeping merry-go-round. If he can keep his form up throughout the summer then he can almost certainly pack the sun cream and sandals for the tour to the Caribbean next spring, even if it is as the backup 'keeper.

But if Tim Ambrose has a successful summer as a batsman and young players such as Steve Davies of Worcestershire continue to improve, Prior's chances of prising his way back into the England team look pretty slim - unless his glovework can significantly improve.