Prince ready for tough times

Ashwell Prince, recently appointed South African captain in place of the injured Graeme Smith, understands that his first assignment is not short of challenges. With Smith, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock missing in action, Prince has singled out July 27, the first day of the Colombo Test against Sri Lanka, as a day of reckoning.

An excited Prince, 29, said he was honoured to be named the first coloured captain of South Africa. "I am inexperienced when it comes to captaincy, but obviously I'm delighted that I've been given the chance," Prince told SuperSport.com. "I'm sure the United Cricket Board could have looked at other candidates. Those candidates have a lot of experience, and I will have the opportunity to draw from their experience."

With just 21 Tests under his belt, Prince's first-class captaincy career is limited: at the helm for eight SuperSport Series matches for former Western Province Boland over two seasons ago, he won three, drew one and lost four. In addition, he captained South Africa A to a seven-wicket win.

The last time South Africa toured Sri Lanka, in 2004, they lost both the Test and one-day series. The troika of Smith (ankle), Kallis (elbow) and Pollock (paternal leave) has left a 251-Test experience gap, but Prince put faith in his side.

"Missing three premier players will have a huge effect on our team, but we have a good young side," he said. "We have a good pace attack with Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and André Nel, and Nicky Bojé will play a role in conditions favourable for him. I wouldn't like to put too much pressure on one bowler to take lots of wickets. There is a nice balance in the attack, and we must spread the load... to get 20 wickets."

Prince was quick to recognise a rejuvenated Sri Lanka, who finished a successful tour of England earlier this month. "Sri Lanka are playing very good cricket, having beaten England 5-0 in the one-dayers after doing well to come back from 1-0 down to draw theTest series," he said. "On home ground they will be much more formidable, so it's going to be a tough tour. The most important thing is to get the best out of the guys, and to get them to perform in those conditions."