Prince moved from Eastern Province to Western Province in the mid 90's under the instruction of Duncan Fletcher who saw potential in him. After being named Western Province's player of the year in 2001, Prince came to the attention of the selectors. He made his Test debut in February 2002, against Australia at the Wanderers. His inclusion in the side was partly due to the quota system in South Africa. He however justified his spot in the side by making 49 and top scoring. In the third Test at Durban he narrowly missed out on a half century again but his 48 was influential in his sides victory.

In 2002/03 he struggled in series against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and was dropped from the team. With good form in domestic cricket he came back into the side in 2004/05 and played two Tests against the Zimbabweans. In the second match he made his maiden Test hundred, finishing unbeaten on 139. This was enough to get him a ticket on the plane over to the West Indies and in the fourth Test at Antigua he made 131 and set a South African 5th wicket record partnership of 267 with Jacques Kallis.