Prior: I will go back to India

8:30am Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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Matt Prior will definitely return if the England team decide to go back to India.

The Sussex wicketkeeper has no problem about going back despite the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last week when 188 people died.

The England squad came home on Saturday when the seven-match one-day series was abandoned with two games to go.

But the ECB are expected to confirm today that the tour will resume next week with the first Test in Chennai on December 11 and the second Test, which was due to have been played in Mumbai, switched to Mohali on December 19.

Prior’s agent Alan Smith says he is happy to go back.

Smith said: “When I caught up with Matt on Monday all his cricket gear was still in the hallway unpacked.

“He’s quite happy to go back. All he was waiting for were instructions from the ECB but he was always expecting to be meeting up with the squad again tomorrow.”

Prior is hoping to win back his Test place a year after he lost it following a poor series in Sri Lanka.

Former Sussex team-mate Tim Ambrose has kept in every England Test so far this year but Prior won back the gloves for the one-day series against South Africa and retained them for the five one- dayers in India.

His wicketkeeping was impressive but after opening the batting in the first two matches he dropped down the order to No. 8.

Andrew Flintoff, who has an ankle injury, Steve Harmison and James Anderson, whose wife is pregnant, are the only players unlikely to return, despite claims from former Test bowler Dominic Cork last night that “five or six players are going to turn their backs on England”.

Flintoff’s likely absence could mean an unexpected opportunity for Sussex all-rounder Luke Wright. He returned home with the rest of the squad after not figuring in any of the one-dayers against India.

England security consultant Reg Dickason is among a party currently in India to draw up a safety report, which will play a major part in the squad’s final decision on whether to return.

Former England bowler Andrew Caddick, who pulled out of a 2001 tour to India following the September 11 attacks in the United States, insists he would be willing travel to the sub-continent.

Caddick said: “The big difference between now and then is that the ECB do have a very good security team, they have got a very good leader (Dickason) who looks after the players’ security.

“I’m sure it will be compared to 9/11 but it will be a lot safer now.”

Meanwhile, Sussex say they have no objection to new signing Ed Joyce linking up with his former county Middlesex to play in the re-scheduled Champions League.

The competition for domestic Twenty20 winners was due to start in Mumbai this week but was postponed following last week’s attacks.

The tournament is likely to be re-scheduled for January with a final decision expected this Sunday.

The Middlesex squad were due to arrive at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai the day after several people died there and the England squad stayed there earlier in the tour. Some of their equipment is still in the hotel.

Indian officials have yet to confirm when the re-scheduled event will take place.

Sussex coach Mark Robinson said: “We have no problem with Ed going back out there with Middlesex.

“He deserves the opportunity after leading them to the Twenty20 title and it will be a fantastic cricketing experience for him.”

Joyce said: “I will love playing in the Champions League although I would have completely understood it if Sussex didn’t want me to go.

“It will be a great experience. I have been there four or five times, most recently with England A last year, and I really enjoy playing there.”