Ashwell Prince: Not looking to change anything about Bangladesh batters

Ashwell Prince only has one month to make an impact as Bangladesh's new batting coach and he aims to do that by keeping things simple.

Bangladesh enlisted Prince's services, and Rangana Herath's, as well and their first assignment will be a tour of Zimbabwe next month, comprising one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is. Prince will join the team in Harare and hopes to work closely with head coach Russell Domingo to help the players perform at peak condition.

"Obviously it's only a short term contract of one month and there's very little time," he told Cricday. "Ideally in these situations you're not looking to change anything at all in a batsman. I see my role as providing as much support to head coach Russell (Domingo) in terms of servicing the players with whatever their needs may be to be best prepared for every match.

"From a batting point of view where one can make an impact is to have discussions around strategy, game plans and more specifically batting game plans. Individual players might already have these as sound as you like, but in my experience as a player, sometimes you just want that nod of approval from the coaching staff to say, 'Yep, we're all on the same page'."

This is Bangladesh's first tour of Zimbabwe in eight years, and Prince sees it as an opportunity for the batters to enhance their reputation by doing well in overseas conditions. "International batsman all possess tremendous amount of skill, regardless of which country the player is from. As individuals there are very rarely glaring weaknesses.

"Having said that, to establish yourself as a reliable international batter, every away series provides one with the opportunity to build your profile as a player by producing results in different countries under different conditions which are foreign to those at home which you are expected to know best," he said.

Prince, however, added that conditions in Harare, especially the pitches, may be similar to those in the subcontinent given the time of year.

"Weather conditions in Zimbabwe in July, would be very similar to Johannesburg in July. Very little if any rain at all. Temperatures also are considerably lower than summer. I'm expecting the surfaces to be drier and slower than the usual summer. It could well play very similar to subcontinent conditions," he said.

Prince, who has worked with South Africa A in the past, is also the Western Province head coach. But he couldn't help but say yes when Bangladesh came knocking.

"The main reason for taking up the position is because the opportunity to work at international level does not come by every day," he said. "And the opportunity could not present itself at a better time for me, as we are currently out of season in South Africa. I am still employed as Head Coach of one of the Provincial teams in South Africa, Western Province."