England's Matt Prior gets that familiar sinking feeling at World Cup

Matt Prior is expected to drop back down the order for the World Cup quarter-final as England attempt to turn an out-of-form opener into a vital part of their strategy to combat Sri Lanka's spinners. When Prior was asked if he expected to lose his England opener's spot against Sri Lanka on Saturday, he sounded like a man bracing himself for the inevitable. "When I was asked to do the job it wasn't a decision made for the tournament," he said. If you have made only 56 runs in five knocks, you have to be philosophical about these things." There has been a clamour for Ian Bell to take over Prior's opening spot at the Premadasa Stadium, on what is expected to be another slow, grabbing surface, but Ravi Bopara, who opened regularly in last year's IPL, would also be a logical choice. England's desire to return Prior to the middle order is also influenced by their belief that he is better suited than some to combating Muttiah Muralitharan, who will play despite a hamstring strain, and his spin partner in crime, Ajantha Mendis. Nevertheless, the switch would represent another change of approach in what has been a largely frustrating one-day career. "Do I want to open the batting? Of course, I do. I love opening the batting. It gives you the best opportunity to bat 50 overs and get a big score on the board for your team. It hasn't gone to plan and that's a big frustration for me. I know I can play that role very well. The stats would suggest not. "I'm bewildered by it. I have opened the batting in county cricket – it's a step up, we all know that – and in Test cricket I have scored hundreds. People mention technique; that's just not it at all. You don't score hundreds in Test cricket if you have got a poor technique. "Early on in my one-day career when I opened I took on the role as a pinch hitter and that gave me a pretty false start because I was getting to 20 and 30 and then getting caught in the deep or whatever. That put me behind the eight-ball. Going into this phase of my international career I am trying to find a better tempo, which I have done at times but just not had a great deal of luck. I still have a huge amount of belief and I just need one or two things to click and that huge innings is round the corner." That corner, though, is not evident to many. Prior's priority was to find out his fate as soon as possible so he could prepare for whatever role presents itself. The adjustment, after non-stop cricket for nearly five months, is more mental than physical. "Wherever I am batting there will be a reason for it," he said, "and I have got to make sure that I am prepared as best as possible for the conditions that I may face. "We have been away a long time, hit a lot of cricket balls, caught a lot of cricket balls and bowled a lot of cricket balls over the last five months. So it's almost not the netting you need to sort out, it's more the mental side of the game. The situation of the game you might be confronted with obviously differs from opening to batting in the middle order so you want to find out as soon as possible." England give the impression that since reaching the knockout stages – "the sexy part of the competition" Prior called it – the pressure is off. They have been so inconsistent that it is no longer worth worrying about. The invitation is just to go out there and play. "There are no points boards to look at – it's win or go home – and that in itself is going to bring a lot of adrenaline and a lot of energy to the team," he said. When Prior referred to how they had "blown away a lot of cobwebs" the thought occurred that this must be the first side with obsessive cleaning disorder to reach the last eight of the World Cup. But in contention they remain, against a Sri Lanka side that may yet be fazed by expectation. Murali has been passed fit but is hardly a figure of prime physical health. "We have three games to win and we are world champions," Prior said. "To win an Ashes and to win a World Cup in a winter would be something quite phenomenal." England have sought to calm fears that Tim Bresnan could miss the match with a recurrence of the calf injury that brought a premature end to his tour of Australia. Bresnan has had a precautionary scan on the calf, after reporting some discomfort, but England said he is highly likely to be fit to face Sri Lanka. He was regarded as a doubtful starter for the World Cup, but made a quick recovery to play a full part in the tournament, in which he has been England's most consistent seam bowler.