Cricket
Prince excelling at No 3
2009-05-13 11:53
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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writerCape Town – There may be rather less on offer in the way of glitz and glamour than back home in the IPL, but that hasn’t stopped Proteas batsman Ashwell Prince doing what he does best: be a model professional and score plenty of runs.
Prince has made a near-runaway start to his early-season stint with English Division One county side Lancashire, and on Tuesday led the charge as the side downed Northamptonshire in the 50-overs Friends Provident Trophy competition at Old Trafford.
His authoritative 78 off 97 balls paved the way for a comfortable six-wicket win against an attack that included compatriots Nicky Boje (he had earlier scored 50 in a modest Northants total of 211 for nine) and Andrew Hall.
The gritty Warriors left-hander, who could not find a bidder at this year’s IPL auction, also registered 44 on Sunday, albeit in a lost cause against Essex.
After a slow start on the one-day front for Lancashire, Prince has clearly found his touch, and he told BBC Radio Lancashire: “I haven’t played that much one-day cricket (recently) … I guess I’d been putting too much pressure on myself at first, and trying too hard.”
But his early County Championship four-day form has been sublime: Prince has rattled up 395 runs in only three outings at 98.75, including a century and three fifties.
The good news from a Proteas perspective - even if Test cricket is presently in an extended sleep mode for them -- is that Prince has been routinely stationed at No 3 in all formats for his county, meaning he is conveniently close to the new ball.
This is a positive development as the former No 5 or 6 batsman is viewed as a strong ongoing candidate to open the Test batting for South Africa, especially after he performed so compellingly with 150 in that slot against Australia at Newlands a few weeks back after his deserved recall to the international fray.
Prince is due to play for Lancashire until the end of the IPL, when India’s VVS Laxman replaces him as overseas pro.
*Also on Tuesday, Leicestershire’s veteran South African batsmen HD Ackerman and Boeta Dippenaar both managed 63 as their side beat Worcestershire at New Road, with Claude Henderson (3/44) playing a key role on the bowling front.