Prior looking forward to captaining England in Perth warm-up in absence of 'rested' Cook

England vice-captain Matthew Prior has said he is looking forward to captaining the team in their opening warm-up match against a Western Australia Chairman's XI in Perth in the absence of captain Alastair Cook, who is ruled out of action with a bad back.

The decision to rest Cook is only precautionary at this stage, but in Australia in particular an opening batsman is only ever one ball away from a broken finger, in which case Prior would have to step in.

According to the Mirror, Prior said that he is hoping to lead the team successfully as he has the experience of captaining his county side Sussex a few times and a couple of tour matches with England Lions, although he hoped that Cook would be 'absolutely fine' for the rest of the games and the Ashes.

Prior further said that as a wicketkeeper, his job is to try to help the captain as much as possible by looking from the tactical point of view, although now he would have to take on the actual responsibility of moving the players and changing the bowlers.

Prior took over the deputy duties from Stuart Broad in New Zealand and immediately showed his worth with a battling hundred in Auckland to help secure the draw, although his form has tailed off since then, the report added.