Matt Prior says defeat against Pakistan was an eye opener

Matt Prior says defeat against Pakistan was an eye opener

England’s wicketkeeper batsman Matt Prior has said that the defeat against Pakistan was an eye opener for the team. However, he was confident of bouncing back in the series by winning in Abu Dhabi.

"It’s never nice to lose, but to lose in that fashion is even worse," Prior said. "We’re a proud team. We’re used to walking off the pitch having inflicted the sort of defeat Pakistan inflicted upon us, so it was a very bitter pill to swallow. No-one
in this team enjoyed it one little bit. It’s taken a few days to get over it, but now there is a steely determination that it will not happen again. This performance has given us a real good slap in the face."

The Poms are currently ranked number one in the ICC Test team rankings and will be looking forward to do well in the remaining games of the series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The English wicketkeeper further went onto say, "You don’t become a bad team over night. We’ve had one bad performance. But look at the stats. Look at the performances our guys have put in over recent years. We’re still a very good batting unit.
We’ve had two bad innings, granted, but all the guys have taken that on the chin and accepted that we have to improve. We have to get better. I’ll back this team and this batting unit to come back strong."

Pakistan’s spinner Saeed Ajmal proved to be a major threat for the opposition in the Dubai Test, as he claimed his second ten-wicket haul in the longest version of the game.

The most impressive thing about this performance was that seven of the total wickets were picked up on day one, when the pitch was flat and there was no spin in it.

Despite that, Ajmal found the right length, troubling most of the tourists’ batsmen. He ended up being the top wicket taker in Tests last year and has got off to a terrific start in 2012 as well.

In order to bounce back in the series, the Poms will have to find a way to tackle Ajmal.

The second Test of the series will start on Wednesday, January 25, 2012.

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Posted by Waqar Masood on Jan 22 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry