Matt Prior dreams of Ashes ton and Tour de France

London: Matt Prior is momentarily stumped. “My God, what a question,” he says, puffing out his cheeks. “I don’t know - honestly, I can’t answer that. That is like saying: ‘Which of your two children do you love the most?’ I couldn’t pick between the two. Both would be colossal achievements.”

England’s erstwhile wicketkeeper-batsman has just been asked whether he would prefer his new cycling team ONE Pro to win the Tour de France in the next decade, or whether he would rather get fit again, re-establish himself in the England set-up and score an Ashes-winning hundred. Fatuous stuff, of course.

But then, Prior is at a critical juncture in his career and it seems valid to question where his priorities lie. At 32, the South Africa-born player still has, in theory anyway, plenty of miles left on the cricket clock. Alec Stewart was still keeping wicket and scoring runs for England aged 40. Stewart, though, did not have reconstructive surgery on a “huge” Achilles tendon tear while in his early 30s; an injury which could well end Prior’s career.

Nor did he use the enforced layoff from that injury to become co-founder and chief executive of a professional cycling team with the bold aim of racing on the World Tour, the sport’s highest rung, within five years. The official launch of ONE Pro Cycling took place at a “glittering” event at Millbank Tower in London.

No ego trip

The question is, how involved will Prior be? How serious is he about all this? He stresses more than once that this is “no ego trip”. “You have some guys who set up teams because they quite like the idea of riding with pro cyclists, taking them to their mate’s coffee shop or whatever. That is not what I am doing,” he says.

“What is my role exactly? Am I just a name to sell it or whatever? Not at all. I am the CEO of this company and like any CEO of any company, that is the amount of involvement I will have. I am involved in every decision, from clothing to equipment to staff. Believe me, I am hugely serious about this.”

All of which begs the question, given the scale and ambition of the project, is ONE Pro Cycling now Prior’s primary aim? Or does the fire to play for England still burn as brightly as ever? Perhaps understandably, Prior is cautious on the prospect of any international return. It is clear that he considers his career to be very much still in the balance following surgery last September to repair a three-inch tear to his left Achilles tendon.

The original six-month rehabilitation plan has already been pushed back to nine months and he makes no apology for pursuing other interests in the interim. “As a professional sportsman, you have to look to the future. It’s a short career. I’m still committed to coming back and playing cricket but I had a massive operation. I don’t think people appreciate quite how bad my injury was.

“Listen, if I can get back playing then fantastic. We have a very good team behind ONE Pro Cycling who I trust in and have faith in. I’m confident that I would be able to manage doing both. And of course, from the profile side of things, the better I do [in cricket] the better it would be for the team. But hopefully we get to a place where ONE Pro has a profile of its own. I would love it if people said: ‘That is ONE Pro Cycling.’ Not: ‘That is Matt Prior’s team.’ As I said before, this is not an ego trip.”

Mention of the word ‘ego’ naturally calls to mind Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography last autumn, in which Prior was singled out for scathing criticism, accused of heading up a bullying culture within the England dressing room. Prior initially made light of the allegations, joking on Twitter that he might “bully” his children into buying him a copy of the book for Christmas.

Deeply hurt

It is clear, though, that the allegations cut him deeply. “Yeah it hurt,” he says. “They were tough times. I had just had surgery, I could hardly walk. And if people believe those things then it can affect your reputation. It is what it is. All I know is that they were the best years of my life. I was very proud of what we did as a team. To win the Ashes, to win in India away, to become the best team in the world, you can’t do those things if the environment isn’t right.

“But, look, I think everyone has moved on. I certainly have. I am watching the England boys down in Australia [at the Cricket World Cup], rooting for them. There is no bitterness. I want them all to play out of their skins. At the same time I’m very, very proud to be launching ONE Pro Cycling. It has been a huge amount of effort from everyone involved. And that wouldn’t have been possible if I was lying there sulking.”

It will be interesting to see what ONE Pro can do. They certainly appear destined to rise quickly within the domestic scene. A useful looking squad led by experienced Welsh pro Yanto Barker, flash new Cervelo S5 bikes, Le Col clothing. They made an encouraging start at the Perfs Pedal Race, the traditional opener to the domestic racing season, two weekends ago, taking all three podium spots.

Prior, though, is dreaming bigger. Much bigger. To taking on Team Sky one day, not just in the Tour but in the British public’s affections. “Of course,” he says. “That is our ambition. We believe the market is there. But I definitely don’t want headlines saying ‘Matt Prior says ONE Pro can take Sky down’ because that is not what we are trying to do. What they’ve done is set a precedent, not just for other cycling teams but other sports teams.”

So come on then, which would it be? The Ashes or the Tour? Prior smiles. “At the end of the day, there is an Ashes series coming up this summer. And to play in an Ashes series is the greatest feeling you can have as a cricketer. I’m still a long way off. Both would be absolutely incredible. Let’s do both, get back, score an Ashes-winning hundred and then win the Tour de France.”

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2015