Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982) is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed batting enabled him to open the innings in ODI matches, even when he made very limited appearance in shorter forms of the game. With an international Test debut score of 126, Prior became the first English wicket-keeper to hit a century in his debut match in early 2007. His glovework, however, was criticised. Despite a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the bat, Prior's keeping was less successful, and he was dropped from the team for the 2008 tour of New Zealand. He returned for the 2008 series against South Africa, and was retained into 2009, where he became the second-fastest England keeper to reach 1,000 Test runs, behind Les Ames. He retired in June 2015 from all forms of professional cricket due to a recurring Achilles tendon injury.Prior was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to England with his family at the age of 11. His mother is South African and his father is English. Prior attended Brighton College during which time he began playing for Sussex County Cricket Club. During his early years he played his colts cricket at St Matthias CC. He is married to Emily, the daughter of former footballer Sammy Nelson, who played for Arsenal F.C. and Brighton & Hove Albion, and has two children.
Prior is the co-owner and chief executive of One Pro Cycling, with the cycling team racing at the UCI Continental level in 2015, and were promoted to the second-tier Professional Continental level for 2016.
1982Feb, 26
Matt Prior
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Events on 1982
- 25May
Falklands War
HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War. - 6Jun
Operation Peace for the Galilee
The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut. - 8Jul
Saddam Hussein
Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail. - 11Sep
1982 Invasion of Lebanon
The international forces that were guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel's 1982 Invasion of Lebanon leave Beirut. Five days later, several thousand refugees are massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Phalange forces. - 14Oct
War on Drugs
U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs.