Matt Prior

Quick Facts

Full Name	Matt Prior
Occupation	Cricketer
Date Of Birth	Feb 26, 1982(1982-02-26)
Age	42
Birthplace	Johannesburg
Country	South Africa
Birth City	Johannesburg
Horoscope	Pisces

Matt Prior Biography

Matt Prior is one of the most popular and richest Cricketer who was born on February 26, 1982 in Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. Named in the Test squad for the away series against the West Indies, Prior played in the First, Second and Third tests. However, with his wife due to give birth, Prior returned to England to witness the birth, with Ambrose deputising. Despite Ambrose making a not out 76, Prior returned for the 5th Test after returning to the Caribbean. Following the return, Prior made his highest Test score (131 not out) in the final Test Match in Trinidad, and celebrated his century by mimicking rocking a baby with his bat to celebrate becoming a father. However, once again his glovework was questionable, as in the same match he broke the world record for byes conceded. Nevertheless, he was declared Man of the Match.

Matt Prior was chosen ahead of Paul Nixon for the keeper’s spot for the first Test of the summer at Lord’s in 2007 against the West Indies. He scored a hundred on his debut, taking just 105 deliveries and hitting 16 boundaries after coming in at number 7, and finishing on 126 not out. He became the first England wicket keeper to score a Test hundred on debut and the 17th English batsman to record the feat overall. Although both Paul Gibb and Billy Griffith scored debut centuries, and although both were wicket-keepers, neither was actually keeping wicket in their debut Test. The last wicketkeeper to make a half century on debut was Jack Russell, who scored 94 against Sri Lanka at Lords in 1988. Prior was one of four centurions in the innings along with Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell. It was the first time since 1938 that four England players scored hundreds in the same innings of a Test match. Prior continued his impressive form into the next game, making 75 as England secured a victory on an innings and 283 runs. Prior again starred in the next game, making 40, although he was dismissed for a duck in the second innings as England won the game by 60 runs. In the final game of the Test series, Prior contributed 62, helping England to win by seven wickets. Throughout the series Prior made eight catches from behind the stumps.

He retained his place in the Test side for the 2009 Ashes, despite James Foster’s apparently superior ability behind the sticks, as displayed to much acclaim during the World Twenty20. Prior had done well with the bat for Sussex in the County Championship, averaging over fifty, but had not kept wicket due to a hand injury sustained against the West Indies.

Prior was ever-present in the Test side in England’s successful 2010–11 Ashes Series in Australia. He started the series with a golden duck, the second victim of Peter Siddle’s hat-trick on the first day of the series. He only managed a top-score of 27 not out in the first three Tests, however he finished strongly in the final two.

Prior made his One Day International debut in England’s one-day series against Zimbabwe in 2004: he was chosen to open with Ian Bell and made 35 before he was dismissed by Ed Rainsford in a 74-run win.

Matt Prior Net Worth

Matt Prior is one of the richest Cricketer from South Africa. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Matt Prior 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982) is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed batting enabled him to open the innings in ODI matches, even when he made very limited appearance in shorter forms of the game. With an international Test debut score of 126, Prior became the first English wicket- keeper to hit a century in his debut match in early 2007. His glovework, however, was criticised. Despite a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the bat, Prior’s keeping was less successful, and he was dropped from the team for the 2008 tour of New Zealand. He returned for the 2008 series against South Africa, and was retained into 2009, where he became the second-fastest England keeper to reach 1,000 Test runs, behind Les Ames. In his role as wicketkeeper, Prior has been described as ‘a big talker behind the stumps’ but has argued that this approach is different from the behaviour that saw him criticised during the 2007 tour by India; ‘Ninety-five percent of the time, my chat is about geeing up our bowlers and the fielding unit.’ He retired in June 2015 from all forms of professional cricket due to a recurring Achilles tendon injury.

Prior received the NBC Denis Compton Award for young cricketers three times in his career. He has hit more than 1,000 first-class runs over the course of two seasons, in 2003 when he won the County Championship with Sussex, and 2004, when his 1,158 runs, including 201 not out against Loughborough UCCE, was enough to be top-scorer for Sussex that season. In 2005 he made fewer runs, with 874, but also became Sussex’s first choice wicket-keeper again after having shared duties with Tim Ambrose in the two previous seasons. He has won the County Championship three times (2003, 2006 and 2007) although in 2007 he did not take part as much as before due to his England duties. It was while playing against Shane Warne that Prior acquired the nickname of ‘watermelons’, after Warne mimicked Prior’s walk to the crease, with ‘his arms out as if he were carrying a watermelon under each arm’.

However, Prior’s good batting form was overshadowed by his poor wicket- keeping. It was the poor form with the gloves that led to him being dropped for the 2008 tour of New Zealand for Tim Ambrose, the Warwickshire keeper and former Sussex rival. When the squad was announced on 4 January 2008, Chairman of Selectors David Graveney stated – “Prior performed well with the bat in Sri Lanka and it has been a difficult decision to leave him out of this tour, but the selectors feel that he needs to further improve his wicket-keeping in order to realise his full potential in international cricket. But I’m sure Matt will be back, there’s no doubt about that.” Prior considered ending his career as a wicketkeeper to concentrate on his batting, but decided to continue after speaking with Alec Stewart.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Matt Prior height Not available right now. Matt weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Matt Prior Dating?

According to our records, Matt Prior married to Emily Prior. As of December 1, 2023, Matt Prior’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Matt Prior. You may help us to build the dating records for Matt Prior!

Prior played in the test series against Sri Lanka, as he continued to establish himself as a key player. He made 126 in the second game after not having to bat in the first test. In a rain affected match, Prior only made 4, but he did take five catches as England won the series 1–0. This meant that England had the chance to become the number one ranked test team when they played India. Prior hit 71 and 103 in the first test as he continued to stake a claim for being the best wicket keeper batsman in the world. He made another score of 73 in the second test, as England took a 2–0 lead in the series. England went on to win the series 4–0, and became the number one team in the world.

Facts & Trivia

Matt Ranked on the list of most popular Cricketer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in South Africa. Matt Prior celebrates birthday on February 26 of every year.

In the first test against Bangladesh Prior could only make 7 runs, although England went on to win the match. He hit a quick fire 62 in the second test as England went on to win the series 2–0. Prior had been one of the senior figures in an experimental team. In the return series, Prior was run out in the first game having made 16. In the following match he made a quick fire 93 which helped to accelerate the innings and guide England to a comfortable win. In the controversial test series against Pakistan, Prior struggled to make an impact in the first two games, recording low scores. However, he made an unbeaten 84 in the third test, which proved to be in vain as England ended up losing the match. England won the series and Prior consolidated himself in the team.

Is Matt Prior still with his wife?

Prior attended Brighton College during which time he began playing for Sussex County Cricket Club. During his early years he played his colts cricket at St Matthias CC. He is married to Emily , the daughter of former footballer Sammy Nelson, who played for Arsenal F.C. and Brighton & Hove Albion, and has two children.

What did Kevin Pietersen say about Matt Prior?

The outspoken Pietersen published a no-holds-barred autobiography later that year and Prior was one of his main targets. The former batsman consistently referred to Prior as ‘The Big Cheese’ or ‘Cheese’ in the book after stating early on that he was ‘a Dairylea triangle thinking he was Brie’.

How old is Matt Prior?

40 years (February 26, 1982)

Why is Matt Prior called Big Cheese?

Pietersen accuses Prior – to whom he gave the ‘Big Cheese’ moniker because the keeper was ‘a Dairylea triangle thinking he was Brie’ – of being the main cause of resentment towards him in the England dressing room and says he does not know why Andy Flower made him vice-captain of the team, a role Pietersen clearly …

Where is Matt Prior?

On 29 November 2019, Prior signed a two-year contract to join English Super League team Leeds. On 17 October 2020, he played in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final victory for Leeds over Salford at Wembley Stadium.