Moores is full of youthful vigour -- difficult to imagine Duncan Fletcher pumping out press-ups as Moores often does of a morning -- and incorrigibly optimistic, but even he must be aware that his honeymoon period is coming to an end, just as India are about to breach the home fortress that Fletcher so assiduously built.

Soon enough the ECB will appoint the superman who will fulfil all the requirements demanded of the role of managing director of England cricket. At that point, ridiculously, Moores will no longer be ultimately responsible for the performances of the England team. Until such time as Moores must report to the headmaster's study to explain himself, we can happily pass judgment.

Given the difficulty of knowing the level of the new coach's input, much of Moores' initial reputation will be linked inevitably with the form and progress of Prior. Coaches are defined to some extent by the picks that they make. Fletcher's qualities were always highlighted by the success of the likes of Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan whose selections, after moderate county careers, were perceived to be based on the personal hunch of the coach. Their subsequent success fuelled the suspicion that Fletcher, at least at first, had the golden touch.

So it will be with Prior, who, it is thought, received Moores' very personal stamp of approval almost from the moment he walked into the job. Given that, it has not been a good week for both. Prior shelled two chances off Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, for heaven's sake, and looked generally flat-footed, untidy and ill-at-ease behind the sticks. Moores must hope, for his own sake, that his protege can overcome his problems quickly.

In some ways, after his part in the juvenile pranks at Trent Bridge, Prior set himself up for a fall. But as bad as the drops were -- the first the result of bad technique, the second bad decision-making -- the harshness of the criticism has been surprising. Prior is in the infancy of his international career and is surely allowed a bad day or two. After seven Test matches he averages over 40 and for the most part this summer his glove-work has been sound. This is surely no time to sharpen the guillotine or to turn back the clock to names already discarded. Better to give Prior a proper run to make or ruin his own reputation.

To listen to the criticism you'd think that Alan Knott, Bob Taylor, Jack Russell never dropped a catch. I can't speak for the first two, but Russell, excellent as he was, dropped his share (including an easy one on his debut). Perception is part of the issue here, as well as the stubbornness of those who refuse to countenance the fact that a modern wicketkeeper has to make his share of runs. The clash between the traditionalists and the modernists focuses on the choice of wicketkeeper, which has made things tough for recent incumbents like Geraint Jones, Chris Read and now Prior. There's only one wicketkeeper and so the criticism cannot be shared around.

Someone who is perceived to be batsman first, wicketkeeper second will always have his glove-work analysed, and every mistake will be magnified. A wicketkeeper/batsman will find his batting technique put under severe scrutiny. When Read played at the

back-end of last summer, it was not the two edges that flew between him and first slip that raised criticism but his batting technique. It is almost as if it is acceptable for a specialist wicketkeeper to make a mistake but not the 'keeper who is perceived to be makeshift.

When Stewart replaced Russell he was routinely vilified. Stewart had similar attributes (and problems) to Prior when he first took over the role. He was, like Prior, primarily an athlete behind the stumps rather than a craftsman who idealised the role of the 'keeper. Whereas Russell might talk for hours about the intricacies of wicketkeeping with Knott, Stewart was more concerned with catching the ball. It was a pragmatic approach.

Prior is athletic, too, and if he is as tough as Stewart and as good at dealing with criticism, I believe he can graduate into as good a performer. He needs time, patience and backing. For the moment he has one key flaw that he needs to work on. As he squats he tends to be on the heels of his feet, rather than the balls, which makes his footwork ponderous. When he dives, therefore, he does so from a static rather than a moving position. He might think, too, altering his position to Ryan Sidebottom, so that he stands fractionally wider given Sidebottom's left-arm angle.

Australian wicketkeepers, like Ian Healy, routinely question the footwork of their English counterparts. Australians like to skip across and take the ball on the inside of their waists rather than in front of their bodies. Two things make this more difficult in England: the lack of bounce and the movement of the ball in the air after pitching. That movement has been in evidence throughout the summer, making it nightmarishly difficult at times. So far in this match there have been 49 byes, 33 for Prior in 170 overs and (at the time of writing) 16 for M S Dhoni in 48 overs. Occasionally Dhoni has made Prior look velvet-gloved in comparison.

For Prior, and for Moores, there is work to do, but it is far too soon to rush to judgment.

(Former England captain Michael Atherton wrote this article on the Sunday Telegraph website).