Ashwell Prince has an awesome record at SuperSport Park where he has a career Test average of 67 and has made 3 centuries. In fact, he has gone on to reach three figures at this venue every time he has reached 50.
Possibly the reason for that is that he is the gritty type who likes grounding it out and is in his element when runs are at a premium and the team’s fortunes are on the line.
He thus presented himself to the Media on Tuesday as totally unfazed about batting under conditions that seem to be hugely in favour of the bowlers following the amount of rain and the lack of sun at SuperSport Park over most of the last week. He was also able to look on the bright side of things quite literally.
“The weather forecast is not great for the days leading up to the Test match,” commented Prince. “As long as there is rain about there will be moisture in the pitch. We expect the pitch to do a little bit in terms of movement. Then again, when the sun comes out, SuperSport Park becomes a very good wicket to bat on.
“As a batsman you want to make contributions when it is tough,” he added. “You are not always going to be able to perform under those conditions but it is nice to come in under such conditions and play a match-winning or a match-saving innings.
“The team is of paramount important and if the surface lends itself to making it easier to get 20 wickets then that is more important than one or more batsmen being able to fill their boots.”
Prince is also well aware that India has its own pace attack that has contributed to team success over the past couple of years. “As the batting unit we respect the Indian team’s attack. They must have done well in the past to be No. 1 in the world. They normally do well on the sub-continent where fast bowlers tend to have something of a struggle and they will gain more support on our wickets. So we will treat them with respect.”
If the batsmen will be treating the conditions with a degree of circumspection the pace bowlers are certainly looking forward to being in their element. This was perfectly summed up by Proteas’ strike bowler Morne Morkel.
“Anywhere in the world where there are overcast conditions as we have had this week and rain about, there isn’t a fast bowler who wouldn’t put up his hand to bowl first. For me it is nice to be back home and playing in front of my home crowd and I am sure it is the same for Dale (Steyn) as well. He learned his trade here playing at Nashua Titans and has played most of his cricket here, so it is going to be special bowling with him on our home ground.”
The Proteas used Tuesday’s practice to put in the hard yards ahead of Thursday’s Test. Graeme Smith had a lengthy outing against the quicks under testing conditions and came through in good shape to confirm his place in the starting line-up.
“This is good news for us,” commented Prince. “He likes to lead from the front both as captain and opening batsman.”
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