Wayne Prior

Who is Wayne Prior?

Wayne Prior was an Australian cricketer considered by some to be unlucky never to play Test cricket.

Born in Salisbury, South Australia, Prior played cricket and Australian rules football as a junior before developing into a tall, rangy right-arm fast bowler, who, on his day, was one of the fastest in Australia.

Prior made his first-class debut for South Australia on 1 November 1974 against the touring MCC team at Adelaide Oval, taking 1/60 and 0/18. After a moderately successful debut season, Prior became one of the stand out performers of the 1975-76 Australian cricket season, taking 43 wickets at 19.67, including 6/41 against the touring West Indian team and match figures of 10/168 against New South Wales, including a hat trick. Prior's bowling was a key element in South Australia winning the Sheffield Shield and led to media speculation that he would be included in the Australian Test side against the West Indies. While the large pool of talented fast bowlers available in Australia kept Prior out of the Test team, former English fast bowler Frank Tyson was sufficiently impressed by his performances to confidentially predict that Prior would be a future mainstay of the Australian side.