Matt Prior is facing a race against time to be fit for England’s opening Test match of the summer.

Prior is still struggling with an ongoing Achilles injury which has kept him out of Sussex’s last two Championship matches.

The 32-year-old is in line to regain his place in the Test side under his former Sussex coach Peter Moores for the series against Sri Lanka in June but must prove he is fit enough to keep wicket first.

Prior – who was dropped during the Ashes whitewash during the winter - scored a century in Sussex’s opening game of the season against Middlesex but has yet to play as a wicketkeeper.

Coach Mark Robinson said: “Obviously England are being very protective of Matt at the moment because he is a centrally contracted player and they want him to come straight back in for that first Test match.

“We were hopeful of him keeping wicket and batting in this game (against Somerset) but his Achilles is still sore.

“The next plan is he plays as a batsman at Old Trafford (starting on Sunday) and keeps in the Durham game (the following week). That is plan A but we have got to get to that point yet and it is not guaranteed.

“It is frustrating as we were hoping to have him for the first six games of the season and now it is looking like trying to scramble three if we can.”