Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Ashwell Gavin Prince
Born May 28, 1977, Port Elizabeth, Cape Province
Current age 30 years 354 days
Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Eastern Province, Mumbai Indians, Western Province, Western Province Boland
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm slow

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	41	67	9	2375	139*	40.94	5649	42.04	7	7	253	3	24
ODIs	52	41	12	1018	89*	35.10	1502	67.77	0	3	77	4	26
T20Is	1	1	0	5	5	5.00	6	83.33	0	0	0	0	0
First-class	138	218	28	7849	184	41.31			18	38			85
List A	182	157	34	3879	89*	31.53			0	21			85
Twenty20	7	6	0	81	37	13.50	90	90.00	0	0	10	1	2

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	41	4	96	47	1	1/2	1/2	47.00	2.93	96.0	0	0	0
ODIs	52	1	12	3	0	-	-	-	1.50	-	0	0	0
T20Is	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	138		210	117	2	1/2		58.50	3.34	105.0		0	0
List A	182		91	86	0	-	-	-	5.67	-	0	0	0
Twenty20	7	1	4	5	0	-	-	-	7.50	-	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Feb 22-24, 2002 scorecard
Last Test	India v South Africa at Kanpur, Apr 11-13, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	South Africa v Bangladesh at Kimberley, Oct 9, 2002 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v South Africa at Gros Islet, Apr 25, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
Only T20I	South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, Oct 21, 2005 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1995/96
Last First-class	India v South Africa at Kanpur, Apr 11-13, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1996/97
Last List A	Dolphins v Cape Cobras at Durban, Mar 9, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Western Province Boland v Dolphins at Cape Town, Apr 7, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Eagles v Cape Cobras at Bloemfontein, Feb 19, 2006 scorecard

Profile

A crouching lefthander with a high-batted stance and a grimace reminiscent of Graham Gooch, Ashwell Prince was helped into the national team by South Africa's controversial quota system, although he quickly justified his selection by top-scoring on debut with a gutsy 49 against the mighty Australians in 2001-02. That innings, and a matchwinning 48 in the third Test at Durban, seemed to shed his reputation as a one-day flasher. But by the start of the 2002-03 season, his form had fallen away horribly, and he failed in four consecutive home Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

However, Prince returned to the side following some good domestic performances, and valuable knocks in the middle order against the West Indies and England at home has seen Prince become a more regular member of the South Africa one-day side. Despite two hundreds in the 2004-05 season - an unbeaten 139 against Zimbabwe at Centurion and 131 in South Africa's 2-0 rout of the West Indies - Prince still does not find himself an automatic selection in the longer format of the game. Long rated highly by SA's cricket supremo Ali Bacher, Prince is strong through the off side, and was Western Province's player of the year in 2001. His throwing from the deep has been hampered by a long-term shoulder injury, but he remains a brilliant shot-stopping fielder in the covers. The highlight of his career was a fine 119 in the third Test against Australia at Sydney in early 2006, but it was during this series that he became bunny to a legend: Shane Warne. Warne dismissed him in the first five innings - though Prince played the rest of the bowlers admirably - and troubled him plentiful when South Africa hosted Australia in March. Scores of 17, 27, 33 and 7 overshadowed a fantastic 93 in the first innings at Johannesburg.

In July 2006 he was named as South Africa's first black captain in the absence of the injured Graeme Smith. The result was a disappointing 2-0 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka. Prince made way for Mark Boucher to captain in the tri-series, also featuring India, which was ultimately aborted following South Africa's withdrawal over security concerns. Prince was not included in South Africa's squad for the Champions Trophy, but continued his sterling 2006 Test form against India at home. The highest run-scorer on either side in the three-Test contest, Prince's series highlights included an outstanding 97 in a loss at Johannesburg and a third career hundred at Cape Town. When Pakistan toured next, Prince was the only centurion in the three-Test series. His 138 laid the foundations for victory in the first Test at Centurion Park, and his numbers can't be argued with, as he ended the season's six Tests averaging 60.67. It was enough to earn him a recall to the one-day side, including a ticket to the West Indies for the World Cup, but it was a disappointing tournament and he was again omitted for the short tour of Ireland.
Jamie Alter June 2007