Flower moves on from Prior incident

Andy Flower knows Matt Prior will quickly put his "freak accident" with a Lord's window pane behind him - and thinks everyone else should do the same.

The England coach was an eye witness to the incident on the final day of the drawn second npower Test against Sri Lanka, in which Prior somehow managed to break the window in the dressing room as he discarded his bat after being run out.

Flower confirmed today there was simply no intent at all on the wicketkeeper-batsman's part, although the International Cricket Council today saw fit to issue a reprimand to Prior over the incident.

"I do know him well, and he is a good man," Flower said of Prior, who immediately apologised to a female spectator who suffered minor cuts from the broken glass.

"I was there, right there, two metres away when that happened. I saw it.

"There was no real malicious intent at all."

Other than perhaps the minor lack of care and attention, universally committed by millions of batsmen as they come to terms with an aggravating dismissal, Flower insists Prior simply did not do anything wrong.

"He was a little frustrated and shoved his bat in the corner, and it knocked around and bounced off one or two other bats and hit the pane of glass," he said.

"It was a freak accident, but definitely an accident. It is a shame that people will think anything other than that.

"It is not a major incident by any stretch of the imagination, and everybody should put it behind them really.

"If there was more to it, then of course it should be taken further. But there really is not."

On the field, Flower sees no reason for significant regret either - after watching the match peter out into a stalemate yesterday on a Lord's pitch which, typically, refused to deteriorate.

He reflected with equanimity on a contest which leaves England with a 1-0 series advantage before next week's third and final Test at the Rose Bowl, and contained a clutch of notable home performances and one or two slightly less so.

Alastair Cook continued his astounding run of form with his 18th Test hundred - a sixth in 12 innings, unprecedented among Englishmen - and 202 runs in the match.

England recovered their composure, from a hapless 22 for three on the first morning, thanks to Cook's 96 - and after a lacklustre collective bowling performance, there was a welcome second-innings return to form for Kevin Pietersen.

"People reacted very well to that pressure situation. It was very impressive, excellent," said Flower.

"To get to 22 for three in the first place was not our most successful piece of batting.

"But from the position we were in, Cook, (Ian) Bell and others did an outstanding job resurrecting the innings."

When they batted again, England were again indebted to their near immovable opener - after his partner and captain Andrew Strauss fell cheaply to left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara for the second time in the match.

"I thought it was a tricky second innings," added the coach.

"When it started it was in bowler-friendly conditions, and we know Lord's changes character in those overhead conditions.

"We needed to be very good on that fourth afternoon - and I thought Cook, (Jonathan) Trott and Pietersen did really well."

Flower was especially pleased with the latter's 72.

"It was significant. I liked the determination and the way he approached that innings," he said.

"He was very selective early on, and did the right thing by the team on Monday evening by ensuring he was not out with Cook for the next day.

"In the context of the game and for the team, that innings was a good one.

"He is a class batsman, and we hope that will kickstart a great summer for him. I don't see any reason why it won't be.

"I think Kevin showed yesterday, and the evening before, how comfortably he can play left-arm spin.

"If he continues in that mode, he will be making a lot of runs against all types of bowlers."

Pietersen eventually fell to left-arm spin again, for the 20th time in Tests, but only after a major contribution and to a very good delivery.

Strauss, meanwhile, appears to be struggling against left-arm pace.

But Flower said: "Andrew has made many runs in Test cricket - and in the course of that, he has faced a lot of left-arm over, right-arm round and other bowlers.

"He has dealt with them all very skilfully.

"I don't think he has a huge technical difficulty ... you are going to get out (sometimes) in Test cricket. If a left-arm over bowler gets you out twice in a row in one match, that's life.

"I thought the ball he got in the second innings was a superb one - both were

Flower moves on from Prior incident

Andy Flower knows Matt Prior will quickly put his "freak accident" with a Lord's window pane behind him - and thinks everyone else should do the same.

The England coach was an eye witness to the incident on the final day of the drawn second npower Test against Sri Lanka, in which Prior somehow managed to break the window in the dressing room as he discarded his bat after being run out.

Flower confirmed today there was simply no intent at all on the wicketkeeper-batsman's part, although the International Cricket Council today saw fit to issue a reprimand to Prior over the incident.

"I do know him well, and he is a good man," Flower said of Prior, who immediately apologised to a female spectator who suffered minor cuts from the broken glass.

"I was there, right there, two metres away when that happened. I saw it.

"There was no real malicious intent at all."

Other than perhaps the minor lack of care and attention, universally committed by millions of batsmen as they come to terms with an aggravating dismissal, Flower insists Prior simply did not do anything wrong.

"He was a little frustrated and shoved his bat in the corner, and it knocked around and bounced off one or two other bats and hit the pane of glass," he said.

"It was a freak accident, but definitely an accident. It is a shame that people will think anything other than that.

"It is not a major incident by any stretch of the imagination, and everybody should put it behind them really.

"If there was more to it, then of course it should be taken further. But there really is not."

On the field, Flower sees no reason for significant regret either - after watching the match peter out into a stalemate yesterday on a Lord's pitch which, typically, refused to deteriorate.

He reflected with equanimity on a contest which leaves England with a 1-0 series advantage before next week's third and final Test at the Rose Bowl, and contained a clutch of notable home performances and one or two slightly less so.

Alastair Cook continued his astounding run of form with his 18th Test hundred - a sixth in 12 innings, unprecedented among Englishmen - and 202 runs in the match.

England recovered their composure, from a hapless 22 for three on the first morning, thanks to Cook's 96 - and after a lacklustre collective bowling performance, there was a welcome second-innings return to form for Kevin Pietersen.

"People reacted very well to that pressure situation. It was very impressive, excellent," said Flower.

"To get to 22 for three in the first place was not our most successful piece of batting.

"But from the position we were in, Cook, (Ian) Bell and others did an outstanding job resurrecting the innings."

When they batted again, England were again indebted to their near immovable opener - after his partner and captain Andrew Strauss fell cheaply to left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara for the second time in the match.

"I thought it was a tricky second innings," added the coach.

"When it started it was in bowler-friendly conditions, and we know Lord's changes character in those overhead conditions.

"We needed to be very good on that fourth afternoon - and I thought Cook, (Jonathan) Trott and Pietersen did really well."

Flower was especially pleased with the latter's 72.

"It was significant. I liked the determination and the way he approached that innings," he said.

"He was very selective early on, and did the right thing by the team on Monday evening by ensuring he was not out with Cook for the next day.

"In the context of the game and for the team, that innings was a good one.

"He is a class batsman, and we hope that will kickstart a great summer for him. I don't see any reason why it won't be.

"I think Kevin showed yesterday, and the evening before, how comfortably he can play left-arm spin.

"If he continues in that mode, he will be making a lot of runs against all types of bowlers."

Pietersen eventually fell to left-arm spin again, for the 20th time in Tests, but only after a major contribution and to a very good delivery.

Strauss, meanwhile, appears to be struggling against left-arm pace.

But Flower said: "Andrew has made many runs in Test cricket - and in the course of that, he has faced a lot of left-arm over, right-arm round and other bowlers.

"He has dealt with them all very skilfully.

"I don't think he has a huge technical difficulty ... you are going to get out (sometimes) in Test cricket. If a left-arm over bowler gets you out twice in a row in one match, that's life.

"I thought the ball he got in the second innings was a superb one - both were

Prior reprimanded after window damage

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has been reprimanded by the ICC following an incident at Lord's yesterday in which a dressing room window was smashed.

Prior reacted angrily to being run out on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka and a window in the dressing room was shattered, with a spectator in the members' area suffering minor cuts from the broken glass.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said on Tuesday that it was an accident and that Prior had apologised to the spectator, but the ICC have now opted to sanction Prior.

A statement from the sport's world governing body read: "England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC code of conduct during his team's Test match against Sri Lanka at Lord's.

"Prior accepted the Level 1 charge and the proposed sanction from Javagal Srinath of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees after an incident where a window was broken in the England team dressing room.

"He was found to have breached clause 2.1.2 of the code which relates to 'abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match'.

"The charge was brought by on-field umpires Billy Doctrove and Rod Tucker as well as third umpire Aleem Dar and fourth official Richard Illingworth."

Srinath added: "Matt knows that his action was in breach of the code and he should be more careful in future. That said, it was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice. It's also noted that he apologised to the ground authority for the incident."

Level 1 offences can be punished by a fine of 50% of a player's match fee, but Prior's acceptance of the charge means the punishment will not go beyond the reprimand.

Prior had just made his way back to the pavilion after being run out in England's dash to set up a declaration on 335 for seven when the window was smashed.

England moved quickly to explain it was an accident - and captain Andrew Strauss insisted the case was closed.

An ECB spokesman said yesterday: "Prior put his bat on the ledge where the wall met the window in the dressing room.

"The bat handle bounced off the wall into the window, and the glass broke.

"A lady spectator suffered a small cut to her ankle.

"It was an accident, and Matt Prior has apologised."

The 22-year-old student who was injured in the incident, Emma Baker, also tried to draw a line under the incident.

She told the Daily Mail: "It certainly wasn't something that I expected to happen, but it hasn't put me off cricket or coming to watch England play here. Everyone was very nice about it.

"Matt Prior has said he is sorry and I've accepted that. I realise these things sometimes happen in the dressing room and I won't be taking the matter further."

The ICC reacted in the same manner when former Australia captain Ricky Ponting damaged a television set in his team's dressing room after being run out against Zimbabwe at the World Cup in February.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Powered by Disqus

Prior sorry after fan cut by glass

Matt Prior on Tuesday apologised to a female spectator who was cut by shattered glass after he accidentally broke a window in the Lord's pavilion.

The England wicketkeeper was out cheaply in England's second innings as they chased quick runs before their declaration against Sri Lanka.

It transpired only slowly how his understandable aggravation resulted in the window being broken, as an England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman first of all reported that batting gloves thrown across the room somehow ricocheted into bats which cracked the glass.

Then after consulting coach Andy Flower, who saw the incident, the spokesman further clarified exactly how the window in the corner of the room came to be broken.

"Prior put his bat on the ledge where the wall met the window in the dressing-room," he said.

"The bat handle bounced off the wall into the window, and the glass broke."

The unfortunate spectator was then hurt as the glass shattered down into the members' seating area below.

"A lady spectator suffered a small cut to her ankle," added the spokesman.

"It was an accident, and Matt Prior has apologised."

It is understood England captain Andrew Strauss accompanied Prior downstairs to speak to the injured spectator.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for breaking a television screen in his team's dressing room after he too was run out at the World Cup in Ahmedabad three months ago.

The ICC had the power to fine Ponting up to 50% of his match fee for that incident.

Prior will doubtless hope that today's matter is already closed after his misdemeanour and misfortune.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Powered by Disqus