Twenty-seven-year-old Western Province-Border captain Ashwell Prince saw an opportunity and grabbed it with both hands on Saturday, on the second day of the second Castle Lager/MTN Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe at Supersport Park on Saturday.
Prince scored an undefeated maiden Test century, and appears to have cemented his chances of being included in the team to tour the West Indies later this month.
When Prince and his provincial teammate Jacques Kallis got together, South Africa were in some trouble on 219 for five, in reply to Zimbabwe’s first-innings score of 269. They shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 119 — a record at Centurion — and did much to wrest the initiative away from Zimbabwe.
Prince, who was playing in his second Test after a two-year absence from the Test squad, said the time when he was out of the team had been very frustrating.
”But I always tried to stay positive, and I always believed I would be able to get back into the team,” he said.
”When I came in today, I saw it as a great opportunity,” he said. ”It was a good wicket, and when I got in, there were quite a few overs left in the day, so I realised I had the chance to get a big score.”
Prince said he had been inspired by The Power of Passion by the Australian cricketer Justin Langer, written about his return to the Australian team after being dropped.
”He said the only currency of value is runs on the board, and that is the philosophy I have adopted.
”Last week, the guys were taking the mickey out of me because I hadn’t batted [in the first Test]. They said I got my match fee even though I didn’t bat. But I’m not playing for the money — it’s runs on the board that count,” he explained.
Prince said that while he was batting with Kallis, South Africa’s premier batsman had been having difficulty with his vision, probably as a result of medication he had taken for his hip injury.
”He had double vision, and had to keep asking me to read the scoreboard and to tell him how many overs were left,” said Prince.
He said he and Kallis had realised that they needed to put on a big partnership.
”We did that, and now Nicky [Boje] and I have to carry on tomorrow. South Africa will be batting last, so we want to get as many runs on the board as possible so that we don’t have to make too many in the second innings.”
Prince said he thought Zimbabwe had played far more positively than they had in the first Test.
”They batted nicely yesterday, and the young leg-spinner Graeme Cremer, who was taken to the cleaners in Cape Town, put up a brave effort today,” said Prince.
Prince resumes play on Sunday on his overnight score of 101. Boje is not out on 24. South Africa have a lead of 111 runs. — Sapa