Batting guru Ashwell Prince more than just the 'vibes master' in Proteas dressing room

Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince dubbed himself “the vibes master” as he stood at the forefront of the celebrations following their triumphant win over Australia in the World Test Championship final.

For three and a half days Prince was sitting on that Lord’s balcony looking relaxed behind his orange-tinted sunglasses. But, when Kyle Verreynne struck the winning runs off Mitchell Starc through the point region, he was the man to get the party started.

And the celebrations looked epic, as Prince came up with a variety of songs, including one for captain Temba Bavuma to the tune of “Bella Ciao”, the Italian folk song that was made popular again by the hit Netflix “Money Heist”.

Many of the tunes come from the songs belted out by the Anfield faithful when Prince and Proteas coach Shukri Conrad’s beloved Liverpool are playing.

Prince has certainly contributed a great deal to that Proteas Test dressing room in terms of the team’s culture, which by all accounts looks like it’s never been better. Not only because of celebrations videos we have seen, but also because of how the togetherness in the team has contributed to their results.

During the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, which were a series of proceedings held by Cricket South Africa to investigate allegations of racial discrimination within South African cricket, Prince said the Proteas dressing room was “a lonely place”.

He said there never was a unified South African team during his international career, despite the Proteas having some of their most historic success in that period.

Prince played 66 Tests in an international career that spanned a decade, and was a pivotal figure in the batting order that saw the Proteas win a Test series in England. He also appeared in 49 ODIs for the Proteas and was part of the World Cup squad in 2007, which he said was amongst the most disjointed groups ever to represent the country at a World Cup.

However, 18 years later, it looks like Conrad, with the help of people like Prince, has transformed the culture for the better. And the result? The Proteas won their first final and ICC silverware since 1998.

Culture, aside, Prince’s biggest contribution has been helping to transform this Test batting line-up into a unit who scores centuries.

After the team battled to come to terms with the retirements of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Prince himself, they went through a period where the batsmen had struggled to convert starts into big scores.

But since Conrad and Prince have been at the helm, seven different players have scored hundreds over the last two years. Many of those knocks came on difficult surfaces and in pressure situations.

Last year Conrad said Prince’s contribution as batting coach has been immense.

Prince was the man for a crisis during his time in the Proteas’ middle-order, often showing that fight and mentality to save South Africa’s bacon on many occasions.

Now, he has installed that same spirit into the current crop of Proteas

“His impact has been pretty plain to see. He brings a doggedness, he brings a mentality that he played with and understands batting, understands techniques of which we don't go too much into,” Conrad said.

“Obviously if there are little technical things, but certainly the mentality that we want to drive. He sits at the forefront of that as well in the batting group, so he just fits in beautifully with what we want to do here.”

Yes, Prince has brought the vibes during the WTC celebrations, but his contribution to the team’s culture and batting unit has been much more valuable.

IOL Sport