Prior’s engagement means he is happy to bat at No 6

The wicketkeeper-batsman, an inhabitant of most batting positions in his 61 one-day internationals so far, finds himself down at No 6 to accommodate Kevin Pietersen’s surprise switch to opening.

Prior has had to become accustomed to regular shunts up and down the order and knows his return to No 6 brings with it a new challenge, to fill the role of the absent Eoin Morgan.

The Irishman was expected to be a banker to prosper here, but he broke his finger and therefore misses this tournament, meaning someone needs to at least approximate his effectiveness.

That someone, after Pietersen’s promotion, is Prior – and he is ready for the challenge.

“The minute anyone says the word ‘finisher’, you panic a little bit and think, ‘That’s a lot of responsibility’.

“But I love being a part of a team, and you want to be a cog in the wheel and one of those that wins games and helps set up games.

“Being a ‘finisher’ gives you the responsibility, and I enjoy that.

“I hope I can embrace that, knowing it’s going to be an important part of this World Cup.

“I don’t think Eoin Morgan’s boots can be filled – he’s a phenomenal player – but I’ll certainly try my best.”

Prior could be forgiven for having mixed feelings over his lack of opportunity to establish himself in any one position. But the 28-year-old is a team player.

“It’s a very positive move for me,” he said. “The middle overs in this World Cup are going to be very important – playing the spin and the seam bowlers with a lot of cutters and slower balls, trying to manipulate the ball around.

“It’s going to be hard but playing on the sub-Continent is something I feel confident about, so I’m looking forward to it.”

If Prior could pick his own position it might not be No 6 but he knows he cannot so will continue to give it his best shot, wherever he is deployed.

“I’ve always thought opening suited my game better. But the way the last couple of games have gone I’ve found a tempo I’m very comfortable with.

“I don’t think, opening, I managed to get that tempo ever – which was hugely frustrating, because I know that if I get that tempo right I can be very, very successful. Right now, this role is suiting me and I feel very comfortable in it.”

Prior averages only 25 in ODIs, compared to almost 43 in Tests. “People throw stats around and say your one-day stats aren’t that good,” he said. “They aren’t. But I’m working very hard to improve them.

“I’ve also had this all my ODI career – a few games here, then moved and chopped and changed a lot. But that’s one-day cricket.

“You have to adapt, from wicket to wicket, from game to game, from team to team – and you have to bat wherever you’re put.”

In any case, after being a long shot for this tournament up until last month – when it seemed Steve Davies was England’s preferred limited-overs wicketkeeper – Prior is not about to quibble.

“I just want to be in this team, and I’m delighted to be playing in this World Cup,” he added.

“A few months ago that wasn’t the case, and I would have done anything to be here. So now I’m here, I’m just very happy. This is the role I’ve been given, and I hope I can do well.”

England’s first assignment is tomorrow’s Group B opener against Holland in Nagpur where Prior will face ex-Sussex team-mate Bas Zuiderent, in a team which memorably beat the hosts in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 at Lord’s.

“The one thing I do know is that they’re very keen to cause an upset,” he said.

“I met up with Bas (on Saturday night). They’re very excited about being here and causing an upset and taking one of the big teams down.

“They’re a team you absolutely cannot be complacent against.

“We’ve seen what happened in the past and we don’t want that to happen again.”

Holland team manager Ed van Nierop insists his side have not been paying too much attention to England’s recent exploits in Australia ahead of the teams’ opener in Nagpur.

The Dutch head into the encounter as massive underdogs but will not be daunted at the prospect of facing Flower’s side.

England go into the match on the back of a mixed winter, with a hugely impressive Ashes series victory Down Under followed by an emphatic 6-1 loss to Australia in the one-day international series.

Van Nierop said: “Obviously they have done great in the Ashes and then in the ODIs not too great and this is the one-day format.

“We’ll just go and have a go and see how good we are compared to the English. It’s not the short format we beat them in at Lord’s in 2009 but we have a decent line-up and we’ll do our best.

“We’ve been focusing on our own team – that’s what we should do. If we start focusing on our opponent that would be a distraction.”

He added: “We know what to expect. The funny thing is there’s a new practice facility called ProBatter with a hole in the screen where the ball pops out from footage [to the batsmen in nets].

“The boys really like that the England team management refused to give us the footage of the England bowlers so they must be a little bit afraid of us.”

Captain Peter Borren is expected to feature tomorrow despite having struggled over the past week with an injury which caused him trouble while bowling.

“He has a side strain but he’s good to go,” said van Nierop. “He’ll have another fitness test (today) but he feels well.”

Also in the Dutch line-up is Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, possessor of the best batting and bowling average of anyone in this tournament.