Sussex and England star Matt Prior has been hailed a hero after he helped res- cue a suicidal man from a Sydney bridge.

Prior was walking back to his hotel with England team- mate Stuart Broad when they spotted a man on the edge of Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The former Brighton Col- lege pupil, 31, sparked a conversation with the British man, who was on the bridge’s railings, in an attempt to talk him down.

The man, understood to be from Cheltenham, had removed his shoes, thrown his wallet, phone and passport into the water below and said he wanted to drown.

When he motioned to jump, Prior and England’s team security officer Terry Minish wrestled him to the ground, according to reports from Australia.

The wicketkeeper then sat with the man for nearly an hour until officers from New South Wales Police arrived. Mr Minish said: “It all happened very quickly and we acted on impulse.

“It is what you do in these situations.”

Prior told a national newspaper: “We just did what anybody would do in that situation.

“We were trying to help a bloke who was struggling and in a bad way.

“I look back and I'm just glad we left the bar when we did and we were there for him.”

The incident happened after Prior and Broad had helped raise £8,000 for the Broad Appeal, in aid of motor neurone disease, along with teammates Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Gary Ballance.

Afterwards Broad praised his pal on social networking site Twitter, writing: “@MattPrior13 is a best friend of mine and I'm very proud of him. It was a tough situation but so glad he was there.”

Prior is a patron of local children’s hospice, Chestnut Tree House.

Linda Perry, director of Children’s Services for the hospice, said: “It doesn’t surprise us in the least that he would not hesitate to go to the aid of someone in trouble, just as he has helped the children and families we care for.”

Headteacher at Brighton College, Richard Cairns, said: “Matt has always been a tremendously caring and resourceful individual and no-one who knows him will be surprised to hear of his quick- thinking and compassionate action.”