Prior is sure he can crack it as England's 'thinking' opener
Matt Prior is ready to build on his first one-day half-century for England and prove he can be a big hit at the top of the order.
Prior has opened the batting in 13 of his 14 limited-overs internationals but he will need more than Wednesday's 52, scored during the 61-run defeat by the West Indies at Edgbaston, to convince everyone he is the man for the job.
The Sussex wicketkeeper may have made a storming start to his Test career - hammering a century on his debut at Lord's and passing 50 on two more occasions - but all those runs were scored at No7 or No8.
Prior will open up again tomorrow in the deciding NatWest clash at Trent Bridge, and said: "I'm always looking to be aggressive but you must be careful, especially in English conditions when the ball moves around early on.
"If the ball is seaming, nobody can score at seven, eight or nine runs an over without taking risks. Other times, you can really attack. It's a case of thinking on your feet."
Conditions at Trent Bridge are likely to demand watchful batting.
More than a million litres of rain water have been taken off the outfield in the past couple of weeks and the ground took another battering last night.
West Indies not only squared the series at Edgbaston but also frustrated England to such an extent that fast bowler Jimmy Anderson lost half his match fee after being found guilty of twice 'nudging' Runako Morton while the batsman was running between wickets.
Meanwhile, Sussex qualified for the Twenty20 quarter-finals last night by beating Surrey in a five-overs thrash after rain at The Oval.
Twenty20 Cup (5.30pm): Durham v Notts, Goucs v Gamorgan, Lancashire v Leics, Middx v Essex, Northants v Somerset, Surrey v Kent, Sussex v Hampshire, Warwks v Worcs, Yorkshire v Derbyshire.
