"Glassgate".....Matt Prior Explains

Prior throws during day five of the 2nd npower Test

Matt Prior has rejected suggestions that a burst of rage led him to smash a window at Lord’s on Tuesday.

The England wicketkeeper was the subject of numerous theories in the wake of the incident that followed his run-out on the final day of the drawn second Test against Sri Lanka. 

But, speaking for the first time since ‘glassgate’, Prior insisted it was a freak accident that led to the window being broken and glass falling on some members of the crowd.

‘Every time I looked up at the pavilion during Sri Lanka’s second innings, I just saw this big broken window and I felt stupid more than anything else,’ Prior said.

‘When you make a scene like that, you’re thinking, “Oh no, what are people going to say?” It didn’t look good, obviously, and I’d just been run out, but people were putting two and two together and coming up with five, seven, nine and 10.

‘It wasn’t a case of being angry that I’d got out. The situation of the game was to try to score as quickly as possible, so it wasn’t like I was run out on 99. 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. It looks awful, terrible: run out, then a smashed window, but it was a complete freak accident.

‘My bats were lined up against the window. To get the bat I’d used to balance, I had to lean over and put it against the wall, but the handle hit one side of the wall and went straight into the window. It obviously hit a very sensitive point of the window, because it didn’t just crack it, it exploded.

‘And the noise... for the whole of Lord’s to stop for a minute, it was a hell of a racket. It was quite a shock but thank goodness nobody was seriously hurt. It was quite a big piece of glass and I know one lady had a few cuts on her foot but I’ve seen her and apologised and she was absolutely fine. The rest of the members were also very understanding.

‘It was more of a shock for everyone to hear a shatter of glass when you’re not expecting it but thankfully nobody was injured. It’s why I can laugh about it now - a freak accident that unfortunately happened.’

Prior was reprimanded by ICC match referee Javagal Srinath for the incident but was not fined. England coach Andy Flower was in the dressing room at the time and Prior admitted his presence helped his cause.

He added: ‘I was lucky Andy saw it, because he could explain it to Javagal, too. Andy will back his players all the way but he’s not going to lie about something like that and I’m the same. I’ve always said that if you mess up, you take it on the chin, admit that you’ve made a mistake and say you’re sorry. But if you haven’t, I don’t think you should be penalised for it.

‘I’m sorry the window broke but it was a complete accident, so I don’t feel guilty about having done anything wrong, not at all.

‘I’ve got a warning, a reprimand, and I fully understand that. They’ve (ICC) got a job to do and they need to make sure things are carried out. Keeping at Lord’s is tricky and I had one of those games where it just seemed to wobble horrendously.

‘I’m very proud of my keeping and I didn’t feel I was keeping badly, so when you see the byes racking up, there is an element of frustration.

‘Do I get angry? I have my moments, certainly. Any time you get out is disappointing, some more than others, but I wouldn’t say I was the worst bat-chucker. There have been a few others that I’m sure would take that top spot!’

Prior’s run-out came after a mix-up with Ian Bell, but Prior said there were no hard feelings.

‘We’re never going to speak to each other again!’ he joked. ‘He came in, said sorry, and the good thing was that he went on to play a great innings - a 50 at more than a run a ball.

‘We were going for quick runs. I thought there was one, he didn’t, and that was the end of it.

‘If I was going to get run out, at least he went on and got important runs and it’s certainly not a case of getting too upset about it.’