Prince wants championship crown

South Africa Test batsman Ashwell Prince wants Nottinghamshire to prove they are the best in the league by lifting the LV County Championship Division One title.

Nottinghamshire go into the final round of fixtures on top of the table but with Somerset and Durham also harbouring live title hopes, not to mention Hampshire, who travel to Trent Bridge on Wednesday, it is sure to be a nail-biting finale.

Prince has been short of big scores since replacing Adam Voges in August but he has been impressed by the quality of the players he has joined at Nottinghamshire and wants to help them lift the title.

Ashwell Prince is yet to reproduce his international form for Nottinghamshire

“I’ve said all along that I think I’ve joined the best side in the championship but we haven’t achieved anything yet and we have to maintain our standards against Hampshire,” said Prince.

“My objectives at Notts were to win trophies and to contribute with big scores and I have been disappointed that I’ve been getting twenties and thirties and then getting out. I still feel that there is a big score in me and I want to sign off in style this week.

“As professional cricketers, this is the type of game that you want to be involved in and we will approach it with clear minds.

“We’ve got four seamers, right and left-hand spinners and we bat very deep so the balance of the side couldn’t be any better.”

Prince also backed team-mate Samit Patel, a driving force in Nottinghamshire’s surge to the summit of the top flight, to continue his impressive start to life in international cricket.

“Samit has all of the potential in the world and he wasn’t overawed when he broke into the England one-day side,” said Prince.

“He believes that he can bat against anyone and bowl at anyone and that is a great approach. If he keeps improving then he could make the step to the Test side.”