RICKELTON: I PERSONALLY RELATE A LOT TO ASHWELL PRINCE

MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton has heaped praise upon Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince after he brought up his maiden Test century yesterday in Gqeberha.

The leading run-scorer in Betway SA20 Season 2 transferred his white-ball form to the Test arena with a polished 101 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park.

It was a marvellous display of concentration and temperament with Rickelton’s ton lifting the Proteas to 269/7 at stumps.

The innings was reminiscent of a Prince special in his heyday, who as a fellow left-hander would grind out crucial Test centuries for the Proteas.

Rickelton, therefore, had no hesitation in singing the praises of Prince, who also doubles up as a Betway SA20 commentator.

“Yeah, obviously, Ash has been phenomenal, not just for me, but obviously for the group, even the lower order as well,” Rickelton said.

“You know, just the knowledge he brings as an ex-Test player with lots of runs under his name. I personally relate to him a hell of a lot as a left-hander.

“It's different. It's a completely different game in my opinion. But I can ask him questions that obviously he's been through.

“So, you know, he creates a sense of calmness among the batters, but he also creates a strong sense of confidence among the batters as well. And he tries to emphasize doing what you can for really long periods of time, kind of like the way I'd like to think he played. 

“And like I say, he's really happy for us and we also obviously owe it to him and Shuks (head coach Shukri Conrad) as well for the way we go.”

Rickelton was the eighth Proteas batter to reach three figures this year already, emphasising the team’s ability to spread the run-scoring load among the group.

Having batted the majority of his career in the top-order, Rickelton also relished the opportunity of walking in at no. 3 after previous failed stints in the middle-order.

“I've batted at three quite a lot for the Lions, especially at this ground, too. So it wasn't something I was too unfamiliar with, but I had my plan.

“PE’s generally quite a slow scoring ground, so we kind of prided ourselves on trying to soak up as many balls as possible, not necessarily look to score a lot against a new ball, but take some time out of the game. And obviously, the longer you bat, obviously, the more you're going to expand.”