Ashwell Prince wants Proteas batters to put the foot down in England white-ball series

Ashwell Prince may have arrived in England with one eye still closed after the long flight from Sydney and the other squarely focused on his trip to Anfield to watch his beloved Liverpool face off against Premiership rivals Arsenal on Sunday, but the Proteas batting coach was pretty clear about the approach he wanted his charges to adopt in the upcoming three-match ODI series. 

Prince was adamant that his batting unit, which failed to register an individual century in the recent Australian series, would resist any temptation to curtail their attacking instincts. Instead, they would be looking to possibly even go harder when the opportunity arises.

“Yes, maybe a little bit disappointing that nobody went on to score 100, but to be honest, the focus is more making an impact,” Prince told the media yesterday from Leeds. 

“So we don't necessarily want somebody who's in the 70s and 80s to have just 100 in the back of his mind and sort of nursing himself towards that. We want to try and encourage, particularly those guys in that phase of the innings, that if they fancy it, that they put the foot down.

“And sometimes they will go on to get 100. And if they don't, if they bum out, that's the way the cookie crumbles. But we are encouraging guys, particularly before the final Powerplay, to take advantage of the one extra field of being up in the circle. So, if you're feeling good and you want to take it on, by all means, do so.”

Prince admitted that this bold approach, which stems from head coach Shukri Conrad, may require time for some of the batters to adjust their mindsets. 

“Shuks and his style of play that he wants us to play, wants the guys to play, it's a front foot style,” Prince said. “So, most of the communication is about trying to free people up. That's the big thing.”

England were the torchbearers of this attacking white-ball mindset, leading to 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup triumphs between 2019 and 2022, but have since fallen off the wagon with successive failures at both the 50-overs ICC World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.

The consensus is that England are almost going too hard with their batters not being able to construct an innings in ODI’s due to a buffet of short-format cricket. 

Prince acknowledged they were wary of falling into a similar trap and has urged the Proteas batters to formulate a balanced gameplan.

“I think for guys who are playing predominantly T20, it can be, you know, a bit of a challenge because you don't always go at the same tempo as you do in a T20. You have to find a tempo,” Prince said.

“In 50-over cricket, there is still an element of, at the start of the innings, of getting yourself in because there are two new balls. And when you're up against some of the world's best bowlers, for instance, in Australia, people like Hazlewood or Rabada or Ngidi, proper bowlers with a new ball, there's still an element of getting yourself in with proper technique before you kind of get to a more T20 mode later on in your innings.

“When we compare the two formats, when we have our meetings with the players, we try to illustrate that in the 50-over game, there is still an element of batsmanship. A little bit more, you know, like this match type of batting. We're not saying that we're going old school style. We're certainly not doing that by batting for so many overs and setting up death batting.

“No, we're not. We're not saying that. 

“But we do recognise that when you start your innings, you still have to apply yourself like it is a Test match, especially against two new balls, against proper bowling. And then when the opportunity presents itself, be encouraged to play freely and put your foot down.”