Champion Proteas will burst straight through every ceiling, insists Ashwell Prince
Image: ITUMELENG ENGLISH Independent Media
THROUGHOUT the Proteas' two-year cycle, including heading into the World Test Championship final, the batting unit came under intense criticism and comparison.
Many looked at Australia's batting unit and identified their experience, including that of Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head – who are some of the best in the world – and compared that to South Africa's young line-up.
There were questions and doubts on the unit's ability to hold their ground against a strong Australia attack, forgetting the centuries that the batters have scored throughout the cycle, be it here at home in South Africa or away from home.
Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince commented on the batters' potential upon arriving in South Africa this week, and told the media that they are yet to reach their ceiling and that the comparison should stop.
'I think as South Africans, we obviously had a generation where you had a batting line-up consisting of Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, AB, Amla, and out of all those names, there are about four or five of them in this Hall of Fame,' Prince stated.
'The dangerous thing from a South African point of view is to compare every young player who comes up in the system to Hall of Famers, because not every batsman can be a Hall of Famer.
'It's really important for people who are working with the young batters to understand that this is actually a good batsman, because if you compare them to Hall of Famers, then everybody is not going to be good enough.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Next
Stay
Close ✕
'Then you're just going to say, well, 'This guy is not good enough because AB used to do this', or whoever.
'You just got to take one person at a time, identify what they're good at, and like every other player, we all have limitations, and we try and brush up on those limitations.'
Mzansi, you showed UP! 🫵🇿🇦💚
Thank you to every South African who came out to OR Tambo this morning to welcome our ICC World Test Championship winners home! Your love, your flags, your voices echoed through the halls.
This victory is for YOU!#WTCFinal #ProteasWTCFinal… pic.twitter.com/yTLLwwSLUy — Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 18, 2025
With such a youthful batting group, as a batting coach, Prince had a job to do, and that entailed being able to show the batters their true potential and encouraging them to push through the ceiling many fans around the world have placed on them.
'Something that I shared with the team beforehand, we spoke about the youthful nature of this batting line-up, which means that because they're youthful... They haven't reached their ceiling yet,' said Prince.
'Their ceiling is still coming.
'On top of that, everybody from media, spectators in the ground, people watching the game around the world, any person who watches games from an advantage point will have an opinion about every individual's ceiling and the team's ceiling.
'And the message is simple from our side: let them believe what they want to believe.
'We burst straight through the ceiling. That was the message.
'We'll burst through whatever they feel the ceiling is, and that's exactly what they did.
'Aiden Markram played an innings any person never thought he was capable of; he burst straight through the top of that.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
8 hours ago
- The South African
Gayton to Springboks: 'We're still proud of you'
Despite a devastating loss to Australia's Wallabies, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has insisted that South Africans remained proud of the Springboks. The national team faced off against their rugby rivals at Ellis Park Stadium, where they were beaten 38-22. The results have knocked SA out of World Rugby's number one ranking and into third place behind New Zealand and Ireland. On his X account, Gayton McKenzie heaped praise on the Springboks, who were no doubt licking their wounds after their loss to the Wallabies. The minister posted, 'We are still proud of you guys. A stumble on the road is part of all journeys. Let's get them next week, Go Bokke.' The Springboks will face off against the Wallabies next weekend on Saturday, 23 August at Cape Town's DHL Stadium. Gayton McKenzie has previously hailed the Boks, as well as coach Rassie Erasmus, He tweeted last year: 'The best sporting moment since becoming minister was addressing the Springboks after the win against the All Blacks. Rassie and his boys did so much for social cohesion and national pride for South Africa'. ' We owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. The greatest rugby team ever'. Meanwhile, Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has expressed his disappointment at their loss to the Wallabies. He said in a post-match interview: 'We let ourselves down today. They definitely won the breakdown battle …we have to take that on the chin. It's unacceptable the way we performed. To start like that and to take your foot off the pedal – it's just unacceptable from us.' Congratulating the Australian team, he added: 'They played really well, they kept on fighting, they never gave up even though they went behind, so well done to them. We're not proud of the performance we did today.' Siya Kolisi ended off by encouraging South Africans to keep their faith in the Springboks ahead of next week's clash. 'We're going to lift ourselves up and go next week and fight. There's not much else we can do', he said. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
9 hours ago
- The South African
‘He listened to us': Pirates fans praise Ouaddou for his team selection
Orlando Pirates supporters were pleased with the team's starting eleven following their 1-1 draw with Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final first leg on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT Downs opened the scoring with Teboho Mokoena but a late equaliser from Kamogrlo Sebelele saved Bucs' blushes. The draw gives Sundowns an advantage; however, Pirates will feel confident given how they played, especially in the second half. After the draw, Pirates fans praised Ouaddou for fielding experienced players. The Moroccan coach started the match with only three new signings and it paid off as Sebelebele, Lebone Seema and Sihle Nduli were effective around the more experienced players. 'This should be the starting 11 for majority of the games, except for Seema when Sibisi/Ndah returns, Mbule and Dlamini should always be used as impact players, the coach seems to be getting it right, he keeps it like this, Pirates are back,' tweeted @Vusumuzi23Vusi. 'I did say the Coach will be given a starting 11. This is Pirates!!! #OnceAlways Welcome back Mbatha!!!' tweeted @KhethaD23. ADVERTISEMENT Pirates Fans happy with Ouaddou…for now 'He listened to us the Orlando Pirates faithful this was a better lineup than the last two,' tweeted @SirRoyzen. @Katlego_Leko wrote: 'Pirates don't need unnecessary trial and error with the right starting 11 locked in, this team has enough quality to run through the PSL and remind everyone why the Ghosts are a powerhouse.' Can Pirates win the MTN8? Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
9 hours ago
- The Citizen
‘It's unacceptable': Kolisi rues mistakes, breakdown pain after Wallabies stunner
The Springboks lost to the Wallabies for the first time at Ellis Park since 1963, conceding a 22-0 lead and losing 38-22. Springbok captain Siya Kolisi bemoaned the mistakes his side made, and the opposition's dominance at the breakdown, after the Wallabies won only their second Test match at Ellis Park. The Australians turned a 22–0 deficit at the 18th minute into a 38–22 win, their second out of 13 matches at the venue. The last time they won a Test in Johannesburg was in 1963. The Springboks started brilliantly, scoring three tries quickly. But the Wallabies held the South Africans back and scored six unanswered tries of their own. While the first half was one-sided in the Springboks' favour, the second half was all Wallabies. The Springboks failed to capitalise on their chances, losing the ball every time they entered the opposition 22. The Wallabies turned their every opportunity into points, stunning a near-capacity crowd that started emptying minutes before the final whistle. 'We let ourselves down a lot. We have to take that on the chin,' Kolisi said. 'It's unacceptable. You have a start like that and then take your foot off the pedal. Then you can't… it's unacceptable,' the Springbok captain shook his head. He said poor discipline and losing the breakdown battle hurt them the most. 'We would fight, get into the 22 and then they steal the ball. It's something that they will do because they have been good at it. You can see Fraser [McReight] got it right, he got man of the match for that. 'So ja, it's hard to put into words. We put our foot off the pedal but they played well. Credit to the Australian team. They kept on fighting.' He said the Springboks would come out stronger in their second game against the Wallabies in Cape Town next week. Wallabies star says they showed grit McReight received man of the match for his work at the breakdown and making the most tackles on the day (20). 'We had to come back and show our grit,' he said of the second-half performance. 'We spoke about how us as Australians haven't won here since 1963. We have a quiet confidence about us and we are building.' He said this work behind the scenes paid off, calling the atmosphere in the dressing room after the win 'europhic'.
