Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, Tests
Matt Prior upset the cut-glass accents in the members' pavillion with his window-breaking antics at Lord's.Offending the sensibilities of the bacon and egg ties underneath the England dressing room is embarrassing enough and injuring a female spectator is bad enough.
Unfortunately Prior, who had to apologise and was reprimanded by the ICC after he was reported by the match officials in the second Test, has missed the chance to make a clean break of it post-"Windowgate."
Prior admitted to feeling "embarrassed" by the events after he was run out by Ian Bell in England's second innings, in an interview with the London Evening Standard.
And so he should be.
Not just at the need for the glaziers to be called to Lord's, but for the lame way the entire episode has been handled.
Since the game was invented, batsmen have returned to the pavillion with steam coming out of their ears, angered by their mode of dismissal - whether it be a dubious lbw decision, a catch behind he never hit, or a stupid run out by his batting partner.
West Indian batsman Desmond Haynes once demolished a shower cubicle. Nasser Hussain hurt himself in his anger. The Times cricket correspondent Mike Atherton summed it up perfectly by claiming most batsmen, at one time, or another, have hurled something or punched something in a fit of pique in the dressing room.
Three ECB press releases and an interview later, Prior still wants people to believe that his batting glove, weighing considerably less than his 2lb 10oz bat, was able to propel the handle of his Slazenger with such force that it pierced the window.
"It wasn't a case of being angry that I'd got out. There wasn't any malice or anger in it at all. It was a complete accident and there was no more or less to it than that," said Prior.
"It looks awful, terrible: run out, then a smashed window, but it was a complete freak accident. That's why I can laugh about it now."
Laugh about it. This is no laughing matter and perhaps the ECB have been guilty of not taking a more hard-line stance on the matter.
The people who run the game in England are creating a cricket team for the nation to be proud of. They want their team to play with integrity and with a tough attitude and they want role models for future stars of a game which is on the up.
One look at the raft of comments refusing to believe Prior's take on the entire situation is a clear indication of how folk feel they have had their intelligence insulted by his account of the events in the dressing room.
Others believe the ICC guilty of double standards and claim they would have suspended a player from another country, but have given Prior preferential treatment.
A ban for one-match would have been harsh, but financial penalty, or at least having to pay for the glass to be replaced and a more contrite apology may have been acceptable.
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