England dressing room a better place without Kevin Pietersen, says Matt Prior

Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior in better times

England vice-captain Matt Prior believes that the team dressing room will be a much better place without his former England team-mate Kevin Pietersen.

Speaking to reporters during a Q&A session in Dubai, Prior was asked whether the dressing room would be a better place without Pietersen, to which he replied: “Yes, it will.”

“I think one of the biggest things the ECB want to rediscover is the value of playing cricket for England, the honour and the pride you need to show as an England cricketer.”

“And they only want people in that dressing room that are going to be passionate about England winning and performing,” he said.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had previously terminated Pietersen’s contract in the aftermath of England’s 5-0 Test defeat against Australia.

However, Prior also felt that Pietersen had the ability that could have made him “the best England cricketer to ever walk this planet”.

Prior also spoke about captain Alastair Cook, and insisted that he had Prior’s full support.

“He will break records and he’s a phenomenal cricketer. He will score the most runs for an Englishman in test cricket, no doubt, and he’s a phenomenal bloke as well.”

“To read some of the criticism he’s got has just been incredible, as anyone who knows him respects him. When it comes to captaincy he’s a big enough bloke to admit he’s not the finished article yet. He’s still very young in his captaincy and he needs to learn and needs to grow into the position.”

“There are certain things I think a captain needs,” Prior added. “I think being such a nice person is one of the things which doesn’t stand him in good stead as a captain and the best thing about him is he accepts that and he knows he has to improve.”