Prince signed a contract to play for Lancashire County Cricket Club the 2009 English season. He acted as cover for V. V. S. Laxman, the club's other overseas player, who was unavailable at times because he was playing in the Indian Premier League. Prince score his first century for Lancashire at the start of May during a match against Nottinghamshire. The knock came off 135 not out from 189 balls came on the final day of the four-day match and helped Lancashire from a score of 39/3 to draw the match. From five County Championship matches Prince scored 497 runs. South Africa's next engagement in Tests was in December when England toured. Despite his initial success as an opener, Prince struggled to adapt and was unhappy batting in an unfamiliar position. He opened with Graeme Smith throughout the four-match series,•••</ref> and managed just 97 runs from 7 innings, prompting ESPNcricinfo's Firdose Moonda to describe his performance as "technically inept".