Down. Nearly out? Don’t expect England wicketkeeper Matt Prior to be anything other than bullish in the extreme in his defence of his captain and his team’s prospects for the third Ashes Test which starts in Perth tomorrow.
No meek surrender from the Sussex man, despite two trouncings in the opening two matches as Prior blazed away in support of his leader Alastair Cook and England’s chance of gaining a foothold in a fast unravelling series.
Cook will win his 100th Test cap, as will his opposite number Michael Clarke, in a match the two chief protagonists could hardly be approaching in more contrasting circumstances.
England have been hammered in the first two Tests and are in danger of losing the urn outright before Christmas.
Clarke has made a hundred in Brisbane and then Adelaide too, and at both venues Mitchell Johnson’s fast bowling has embarrassed England’s batsmen.
Prior, however, has seen enough of Cook – as batsman and captain – to know he and his team-mates could not have a better man to lead them out of this tightest of corners.
At a ground where England have won just one Test, and that was 35 years ago, they must withstand Johnson in conditions tailor-made for his talents.
They will be looking to Cook to set the example, and Prior has no doubts his captain is made of the right stuff.
“I don’t know the records he is about to break, but there are going to be a few of them,” he said, of the 28-year-old opener who is already England’s most prolific centurion.
“He will be probably the greatest England cricketer, there is no doubt about that, and as a leader there is no other man I’d want taking us on to the field.”
Cook has all the qualities vice-captain Prior wants in a Test leader, and he is confident in his ability to dig out a telling performance when it matters most.
“He leads from the front and leads by example, and I expect he will do exactly that in this game,” he said.
Prior does not under-estimate the challenge facing England, after their hapless false start to this high-profile series, but he is convinced they can rally.
“For an England cricketer, it doesn’t get any harder – two down in an Ashes series coming to Perth,” he admitted.
“But if we do come out and force a result here, how exciting would that be?
“That’s what we have to concentrate on and work towards, and that’s exactly what we’re focusing on.”
He is well aware, in England’s perilous position, empty words will be worthless without the right actions to back them up in the middle.
“It’s all well and good me sitting here talking. The only way we’re going to show it is out on that cricket pitch.”