Prince says 'all possibilities open' as SA deal with problem of plenty in batting order

As steady drizzle and fierce wind gusts whipped through Arundel, South Africa made their way from Portsmouth in hopes of continuing their warm-up match against Zimbabwe only to see the best-laid plans go awry. Two of the three days have been lost to the weather and if any play is possible on the fourth, it will likely be used to get miles in the bowlers' legs. That means the batters will have to make do with their work from day two and upcoming net sessions and for batting coach Ashwell Prince, that should be enough.

"We trust the things that we've been doing. It's not as if you've got an exam coming up and all of a sudden, you've got to cram all these things in, or cram in some new things that you might not have thought of before," Prince told the media present at the venue. "We trust what we've done in the past. It's worked for us. We've deserved the opportunity to have a crack at it in this final."

And this time, that statement applies as much to their batters as it does to their bowlers, who are often credited with being the match-winners. Across 12 Tests, South Africa scored 14 hundreds from nine different players. Of those, six scored a hundred for the first time in Tests. It's a sign of a maturing line-up that can complement an attacking seam contingent and balance out a team that is sometimes seen as over-reliant on pace.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo ahead of the WTC final, former captain Graeme Smith, whose full interview will be published later this week, identified a more settled top six as one of the key reasons for South Africa's qualification to the final. "The part that they got right in the recent run was finding some performance from the batters," he said. "There's always been options with the ball and now we've seen a little bit more consistency coming from the batting front. What you need to be successful in Tests is a top six that can perform consistently."

In this squad, South Africa have eight batting options which gives them a problem of plenty, as they debate two spots: No. 3 and one spot lower down - either No. 6 or 7. Head coach Shukri Conrad has confirmed that Aiden Markram will open with Ryan Rickelton which means one of Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder will bat at No. 3 while that same trio along with David Bedingham are in line for the No. 6 spot. On the evidence of how they lined up at Arundel, Mulder will bat at No. 3, Stubbs at five and Bedingham six with de Zorzi likely to sit out.

One concern with that set-up is that Mulder is also expected to have a job to do with the ball, especially when it's swinging, and could end up with a substantial workload. That could prompt Conrad to move Mulder down the order, and shift Stubbs back up - as was initially the case last year - but not everyone thinks that's a good idea. Zimbabwe, who bowled to South Africa for 79 overs on Wednesday, were particularly impressed by Stubbs', who Sean Williams told ESPNcricinfo looks like he should stay at No. 5 as "he will score runs for them from there."

Prince would not be drawn into any confirmations. "At the moment, the best way to prepare for us as a squad is to keep all possibilities open," he said. "We don't know what the surface is going to look like when we get there. Should it be a case where he's required to do that job, we want to make sure that he's at least had some sort of preparation but we don't know whether he's going to be required to do that, because we haven't had a look at the surface. We'll only be able to tell when we get there."

Mulder is one of the players who has had scant game time in the lead-up to the final. He only played one match at the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, where was used as an impact substitute and bowled one over. South Africa will be eager to see him bowl a few more if conditions allow for it on Friday. What they've seen from a batting perspective is his confidence in taking on the short ball early on, which Williams also identified as a strength, and solid defences. With Mulder high in the line-up and Marco Jansen lower down, South Africa will have two seam-bowling allrounders in the XI, a luxury they have long-wanted (especially after Jacques Kallis' retirement) but seldom had.

Both Mulder and Jansen are also players that South Africa have long-term investment in. They're in their mid-20s, play all formats and will form part of the core of the squad in years to come along with Rickelton, Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne and - though not in this squad - Kwena Maphaka. It's this younger contingent who have inspired a level of hope and positivity in South African cricket as they've emerged as what Smith called "new heroes." His own sons, Smith said, admire the likes of Rickelton and Jansen because they bring a "feel good factor" to the sport.

Prince has also been energised by the freshness of the squad, and hopes they can bask in the spotlight that's been put on them and create their own legacy. "It's a young group and a lot of them have had some fantastic success over the last 18 months to get themselves into this position. I think there's a sense of everyone wanting the guy next to them to do well and enjoying each other's success," he said. "And it's just been a fantastic journey to be a part of. Next week is going to be a special opportunity for these guys. Teams of the past have had successes but this is their moment. This is their opportunity to go out and do something special."