Former England cricketer, David Lloyd, has praised Matt Prior for his brilliant half century in the first inning of the second test match at Headingly. He has compared Prior to the great Australian wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist. As per Lloyd, Prior is providing the same kind of momentum to the England team at no. 7 which Gilchrist used to provide to the Australian team during his playing days. Lloyd said that Prior didn’t use to play with a high strike rate in the earlier part of his career, but, in the last two years, he has made some improvements in his batting and he is a better batsman now.
On being asked about the Kevin Pietersen issue, Lloyd said that Pietersen is a fantastic batsman and he is a wonderful asset for England in test cricket. But, at the same time, he also said that it is very hard for ECB to accept the demand of Pietersen. If Pietersen is allowed to play in the entire season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year, it would send a wrong message to the players. As per Lloyd, the national duty should be given the first preference.
David Lloyd seemed to be unhappy with Strauss’ decision of leaving Graeme Swann out of the team in the second test match. On being asked about England’s chances in the third test match, Lloyd said that the first thing that Strauss should do is to bring Swann back into the side. Swann has contributed brilliantly for England in the last few years and it was bizarre to leave him out for the second test match. As per Lloyd, the approach of English bowlers has been defensive in the series. He said that the English players should play aggressive cricket right from the beginning of the third test match.