NAGPUR – Matt Prior paid tribute Sunday to the influence of former Pakistan leg-break bowler Mushtaq Ahmed after being labelled England’s best player of spin by team-mate Stuart Broad. Prior’s return to the middle-order from an opener’s berth for England’s World Cup campaign has largely been seen in the context of Kevin Pietersen’s promotion to partnering captain Andrew Strauss at the top of the order.
But England are convinced moving Prior down the order is a positive move for their wicketkeeper, as it is in the middle overs of a one-day innings where slow bowling will come into play. Prior played alongside Mushtaq at Sussex where the leg-spinner twice took more than a hundred first-class wickets to guide the south coast side to the 2003 and 2006 County Championship titles.
