South Africa cricket is undergoing transition, says Ashwell Prince

South Africa have lost the services of stalwarts of the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn (available for limited-overs cricket) in the past 20 months to retirement. The upcoming crop of cricketers have some big shoes to fill and former international Ashwell Prince feels that it won't be an overnight process.

In India, as part of a spin camp with the South Africa A side, Prince admits their senior team is undergoing a transition phase.

"It's a transition phase for South African cricket," Prince told Deccan Chronicle. "I work in the first-class system and we have the first-hand experience of the young guys that are coming through. Of course, you don't become Amla and Steyn overnight."

South Africa A are gearing up for a five-match unofficial ODI series to be followed by two unofficial Tests against India A. The Proteas are hoping it will give their players a chance to acclimatize with the subcontinent conditions and give them a first-hand experience of what it's like to deal with spin-friendly pitches.

Prince, who played 66 Tests, 52 ODIs and one T20I, is with the side as a batting consultant and hopes to pass on his experience to the youngsters. "We obviously have come here for young players to experience some of the conditions. What we try to do is to pass on our learnings, but we have some local coaches (Amol Muzumdar) helping us here. Even the spin coach (Paul Adams) has years of experience to associate the idea of local conditions. It's basically to feed the young guys as much information as possible," he said.