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Michael Vaughan's cricket insight
There were four obvious candidates for the man-of-the-match award at Lord's in the form of Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Matt Prior. I don't think anyone can argue with KP getting it after a double-century in tricky conditions but with an aggregate of 174 runs across the two innings plus five catches, one could have made a really good case for Prior. Especially when we recall that England were in total disarray when the Sussex man came to the crease. His brilliant century turned the game around and meant India were never in with a chance of chasing a score of over 400.

How do we define Prior's role within the team? He's an all-rounder. When it comes to wicket-keepers I define them as that if I feel they're capable of batting somewhere in the top five. As it happens I don't think he ever will as an England player, but he certainly wouldn't look out of place there. For my money he's the best Test wicket-keeper batsman in the game. If Kumar Sangakkara was still wearing the gloves you could say the former Sri Lanka captain may just about edge him out, but he's in the team solely as a batsman these days in the longest format. As for MS Dhoni, he's a wonderful ODI player but with a Test average of 38, it's a good seven runs short of Prior's at an incredible 45. See what I mean about him being able to bat in the top five?

The debate will roll on as to why he can't replicate his Test form in limited-overs cricket. For me the answer is that they're two completely different games. It was the same with me. I could go out and score big runs in Tests but when it came to ODIs I struggled to replicate that form. The ball, the tactics and the field placements are all different. Some players, like Marcus Trescothick, can master both of them with the greatest of ease but others can't. But England fans needn't worry too much. In Craig Kieswetter England have a good keeper who is also an aggressive opener capable of hitting over the top, so they're in good hands.

There's no reason why Prior can't go out and score more runs at Trent Bridge but in terms of finding a winner in the top batsman market I'm going to go with someone batting a little higher up the order. I'm ruling out the openers and also Jonathan Trott because they may have to bat in tough, swinging conditions, as Ed Hawkins points out. Kevin Pietersen is obviously in tremendous form after that 200 but his Test record at Trent Bridge isn't that great despite starting his County career over there. Ed is going for Eoin Morgan, but for me the man to side with is Ian Bell at 6.8 because he really needs a big score after just 45 runs in two innings at Lord's. The Bell of old may have crumbled under the pressure but the new one is likely to play a big innings exactly because the heat is on him.

The same rationale regarding avoiding the top order applies to India as well, which leads us to that man Sachin Tendulkar. I took a leap of faith that he'd put his poor record at Lord's behind him and top score. But sometimes it's just not meant to be and he'll look back at a failure to score a century at the home of cricket as one of the very few disappointments of his career. I fancy him to come good at the second time of asking.

Recommended Bets:
1pt Back Ian Bell to top score for England in the first innings at 6.8
2pts Back Sachin Tendulkar to top score for India in the second innings at 4.6


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