Prince applauds captain's innings

Ashwell Prince scored a hundred against Middlesex

Ashwell Prince is confident South Africa captain Graeme Smith derived much benefit from his first innings of the summer - despite missing out on the rich pickings his team-mates took from Middlesex today.

Prince (104 not out) and Hashim Amla (161) once again proved to be in outstanding form as they added to gains made against Somerset at Taunton by underpinning the tourists’ 339 for four on day one at Uxbridge.

For Smith, the outcome appeared less satisfactory as he strives for runs under his belt going into next week’s first Test against England at Lord’s.

The left-handed opener had not recovered in time from his Indian Premier League hamstring tear to take part in South Africa’s first tour match in the west country - and may not have the luxury of a second opportunity here, given a poor weekend weather forecast.

But whether or not his 35 from 77 balls is to prove his one and only innings before the start of the four-Test series, Prince believes his captain will be happy enough.

“He batted for more than two hours out there, and the ball did go around a little bit this morning,” he explained.

“He hasn’t batted for a while. But those two hours - and some more in the second innings, we hope - I’m sure that will be enough time in terms of preparation for the Test.

Graeme Smith conscientiously took his time

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“It’s much better to get time in the middle than in the nets - and I’m sure he’d like to have another go in the second innings.”

Prince is mindful too of Smith’s need to retune his tempo to the longer form of the game, after his most recent Twenty20 adventure on the sub-continent.

“He conscientiously took his time,” Prince added.

“He probably could have been a bit more aggressive. But I think he probably opted to play the way he did, because he hasn’t had much time in the middle - and the last time he was batting it was in Twenty20.

“He wanted time at the crease and to get used to playing cricket with a red ball, the IPL being the last time he batted.”

As for his own performance - and that of Amla - Prince reported that much of the hard work was done before lunch.

“It seemed like it was going around a bit early on with the new ball,” he said.

“But it’s quite a good pitch, and in the afternoon it was a little bit easier - and we took advantage.”