Cricket: PRIOR ON FIRE; ENGLAND v WINDIES, 3rd TEST, OLD TRAFFORD, STARTS THURSDAY Shades of Aussie legend Gilchrist as England's new keeper proves to be a smash hit with the bat.

Byline: Dean Wilson CRICKET CORRESPONDENT

THE EASE with which Matt Prior has settled into his role as England's first-choice wicketkeeper batsman should not surprise anyone - he has been doing it since he was 11.

And now he is wowing millions of England fans with the sort of breathtaking batting that has grabbed the headlines for Adam Gilchrist (below).

It has taken Prior two weeks to show he belongs in the national side - about the same time it took him to settle in after arriving in England as an 11-year-old from South Africa.

He was desperate to fit in with his school chums and sport was the way he set about doing it. Now he is doing the same thing in an England shirt, fitting in with a debut ton and then a handy 75.

Prior, 25, recalled: "I lost my accent within a couple of weeks because I was so desperate to fit in. I used to watch English football on TV in South Africa so I was very excited about coming over here.

"I have fond memories of South Africa as a child. Life is all centred around sport which was great for me and it is where I started learning my cricket and I got all my basics about the game, but I always held England in awe.

"My life has taken off a little bit which is weird because it has only been two weeks. It has gone absolutely brilliantly for me, but the best thing has been winning my first Test match."

With an early run-glut the comparisons with Gilchrist have started to flood in and Prior admits the Aussie along with England's Alec Stewart set the benchmark to which he aspires. The 25-year-old has been told he shares some of Stewart's style when he is batting and he even goes as far as impersonating the former England captain, although he has yet to try it on his team-mates in the international dressing room.

Kevin Pietersen said: "Matty is a positive player. He is aggressive and it is something we've really looked for in terms of a Gilchrist-like comparison and he is right there with him."

Prior added: "Adam has set the target for other wicketkeeper batsman to aim for. He showed keepers can open the batting in one-day cricket and get big hundreds in Tests."

On the pitch Prior is as abrasive as they come, retaining an element of his South African starting point in the game, and it earned him a reputation for being cocky, arrogant and self-absorbed.

But when he was dropped from the England set-up, he set about returning stronger and with a deeper understanding of what it takes to make it to the top.

He said: "When I was first left out I thought 'oh no I've blown my chance' and 'why have I been left out' but you have to work out what was missing and try and get that sorted.

"It has been well-documented that I'm cocky and I'm arrogant, and I might be that way on the pitch, but like everyone else in sport I have low points.

"It shows the kind of character you are depending on how you deal with that and if you can switch it around and say, 'no, you are good enough, you can do this' then you get in the nets and work it out.

"From experience you learn a lot. I can remember when I first joined the Sussex staff people said to me things like 'that comes with experiences' or 'experience counts for a lot' and I just used to think if you're good enough you're old enough.

"Now I understand about experience. OK I've had a great two weeks but the next two weeks could be the opposite and does that mean I'm a terrible player if I don't get any runs? No, I'm still the same."

betfair

THIRD TEST: England 4-6, West Indies 17-1, Draw 2-1.

Full details online at www.betfair.com.

CAPTION(S):

SAFE HANDS: Prior is proving a great catch for England; INSTANT HIT: Prior became England's first wicketkeeper to score a ton on his Test debut against the West Indies