KP v Prior set to make the airways crackle
ALL eyes – and ears – may well be on the press box, rather than the field, on the first morning of the third Test between England and South Africa.
That’s because the Port Elizabeth clash marks the arrival of former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who will be taking up commentary duties for talkSPORT.
Also working for the radio network – and Sky Sports – is Prior’s former team-mate Kevin Pietersen, who has been predictably forthright on debut in Cape Town.
The pair famously fell out, with KP relentlessly mocking Prior in his autobiography – referring to him as “cheese”, describing him as “a Dairylea triangle thinking he was brie” and ridiculing the cycling enthusiast for taking his bike on a tour to New Zealand.
It will be interesting to see if the talkSPORT producers, who have been delighted with the way their coverage has gone, will put the duo on the air together.
There is, however, a precedent for such very potentially awkward situations.
In Cape Town on the 2009-10 tour, BBC’s Test Match Special brought in ex-England coach Duncan Fletcher to summarise.
Knowing that both he and Sir Geoff Boycott were not, shall we say, the biggest fans of each other, TMS went to extraordinary levels – organising separate entry and exit points to the comms box for the pair so they would never have to pass each other at work.
SOUTH AFRICA VS ENGLAND REMAINING FIXTURES (ALL ON SUPERSPORT 2) 3rd Test 4th Test 1st ODI 2nd ODI 3rd ODI 1st T20i will 2nd T20I 3rd T20I TESTS
at Port Elizabeth will start on January 16 from 10am
at Johannesburg will start on January 24 from 10am
ONE DAY INTERNATIONALS
will commence on Tuesday, February 4, at Cape Town from 1pm
will commence on Friday, February 7, in Durban from 1pm
will commence on Sunday February 9, in Johannesburg from 10am
T20Is
commence on Wednesday, February 12, in East London from 6pm
will commence on Friday, February 14, in Durban from 6pm
will commence on Sunday, February 16, in Centurion from 2:30pm