Jack Russell has insisted he had a far worse temper than current England wicket-keeper Matt Prior who has found himself in an unwanted spotlight as a result of a window-breaking incident at Lord's.
Published: Jun 14, 2011, 12:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 14, 2011, 12:19 PM (IST)
Matt Prior has found himself in an unwanted spotlight as a result of a window-breaking incident at Lord’s © Getty Images
London: Jun 14, 2011
Jack Russell has insisted he had a far worse temper than current England wicket-keeper Matt Prior who has found himself in an unwanted spotlight as a result of a window-breaking incident at Lord’s.
England head to the Rose Bowl for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday with a 1-0 lead in the series after an innings victory in Cardiff and a drawn second Test at Lord’s.
Prior made a hundred in the first innings at Lord’s but that was all but overshadowed when, on the final day, he broke a dressing room window with a bat after he was run out for four.
The Sussex stumper insisted he did not throw anything in anger but rather the window broke after a freak accident when he put his bat next to a nearby ledge in the dressing room.
A female spectator sat below in the Lord’s Pavilion suffered a cut to her ankle from the resulting falling glass.
Prior, who apologised to her, was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
But former England keeper Russell said he didn’t expect the incident to be playing on Prior’s mind at the Rose Bowl, the home of southern county Hampshire.
“I don’t think a pane of glass will knock England off course. It definitely won’t knock Matt Prior off course,” Russell said.
“Matt is too strong a character and the set-up is too sensible. He will just forget about it. It was fortunate that no-one got (seriously) injured but we have all done worse than that,” said Russell, speaking Monday at Lord’s.
“We have all smashed our cricket case up or bashed our kit about,” added Russell, now a professional artist who has painted a picture on a canvas of cricket bats as part of his contribution to National Cricket Day.
“Some players were never like that. Graham Gooch (the former England captain and now the team’s batting coach) used to come in and lay his bat down and that would be it. But when I was playing I was like a kettle boiling in that time between losing my wicket and getting to the dressing room.
“The volcano would just build and build and build. The lads just used to clear away and give me a minute because I was angry.”
© AFP
