Intro
Matt is looking forward to playing with Sydney Thunder in BBL|02 and he’s a welcome addition to the squad. Matt says that the BBL “has fast become a competition player’s all around the world want to play in, so I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.”
Matt, the current England Test wicketkeeper batsman, has represented his country in ODI’s and has played domestic cricket for Sussex since 2001. Matt has represented England at all ages, up to and including U/19’s, during the 2006/07 Ashes series became the first England wicketkeeper to score a century on debut, was instrumental to their 2009 Ashes win and during the 2010/11 Australian tour made 23 catches which included equalling an Ashes record of 6 catches in the first innings at Melbourne. Matt ended the series with his first century against Australia in Sydney.
Matt has plenty of T20 experience, having played over 78 matches and the best piece of cricketing advice he’s received is “keep it simple and back yourself in any situation”, saying his recent success in T20 has been due to keeping things simple, “I think it is so important to let your natural game come through.” Coach Shane Duff is extremely pleased to have Matt Prior joining Thunder and says “his experience and talent will be a major asset in our quest for success.”
Born in South Africa, “Matty P” moved to England when he was younger and currently lives in Brighton. Over his successful cricket career, Matt says that his proudest cricketing moment was making his Test debut with England in 2007 against the West Indies and tells us it will definitely be a nice change playing alongside Thunder team mate Chris Gayle rather than against him! Laughing, Matt says that even with Chris on his team “standing at the other end could be a bit dangerous at times!” Having played a lot of international cricket against Chris, Matt believes there is no harder hitter of the cricket ball than Chris and he’s “as excited to play alongside him as I'm sure the fans are to see him play.”