SA20: Meeka-eel Prince eager to soak in cricketing lessons at Pretoria Capitals

The young South African wicketkeeper-batter was picked up at the auction for R200 000 and will join the Capitals, now coached by India legend Sourav Ganguly - aptly known as the Prince of Kolkata in his home country.

Proteas great Shaun Pollock will serve as Ganguly's assistant while West Indian global T20 superstar Andre Russell, as well as current Proteas Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and, the most expensive player bought at the auction, Dewald Brevis will be Prince's teammates.

The 21-year-old is especially looking forward to be based at the venue in Centurion, which many players say is the best pitch to bat on in South Africa with the high altitude making sure the ball flies to all parts of the stadium.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Prince said: "I'm quite excited. I mean, I'm going to Pretoria where it's a great batting wicket.

"I think obviously as a youngster, working with guys like that, I think the main thing is to learn. 

"That's probably the best thing that I can do, is learn and make sure that I get better at what I'm doing. I can't walk away from there not being a better cricket player."

Prince came through the ranks in Cape Town and was part of the JP21 Foundation - set up by former Proteas allrounder JP Duminy - and went on to represent South Africa at U19 level.

In 2023 Prince was offered a professional contract by the North West Dragons and took the opportunity to relocate to Potchefstroom as a teenager.

He repaid the faith almost immediately, cracking a sparkling 166 in just his third List A match to help his new province beat Boland in a 50-over contest at the JB Marks Oval.

Prince's good form saw him drafted into the senior Proteas camp ahead of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February and he has since been selected in the South Africa Emerging squad that toured Bangladesh in May, playing in three one-day matches and a four-day fixture.

The right-handed batter says he worked hard on his red-ball game in the off-season and wants to show he has more to his game than only doing well in the white-ball formats as he geared up for the home summer.

That hard work paid off with Prince hitting a maiden first-class century (142) against the Titans in the second domestic game of the season earlier this month.

"I think I wasn't really known as a red-ball cricketer," Prince said. "I went to the (CSA) academy and to Bangladesh but my goal for the pre-season was obviously to get fit and then I think (working on the) red-ball was my main focus.

"I'm opening the batting in both white-ball formats and was batting at seven last season (in four-day cricket). I think I made up my mind that I want to open in all three formats and I don't want to be seen just as a white-ball cricketer.

"So I worked very hard at my red-ball game in the preseason and yeah, it has worked out quite well."

Legends of the game will tell you that playing first-class cricket is the foundation to improving your batting as there is no substitute for spending time at the crease, and Prince agrees.

"I think working on my red-ball game in the off-season will help me quite a bit with my white-ball game actually, just to understand my game a little bit better.

"It helped me a lot because now I can almost go in, know where's my areas of scoring, watch the ball, hit the ball."

The fourth season of the SA20 starts on Boxing Day when defending champions MI Cape Town host Durban's Super Giants at Newlands.

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