da jogodeouro： Allan Donald has been appointed as a specialist coach for the high performance programme
Ken Borland23-Oct-2005
Allan Donald: back in the fray for South Africa © Getty Images
It has been one of the poorer aspects of South African cricket that for sometime they have been getting nothing out of their legendary former fastbowler Allan Donald. All that is set to change, however, following his appointment on Sunday as a specialist coach for the high performance programme, alongsidethe record-breaking batsman and former team-mate, Gary Kirsten.Donald, who was South Africa’s highest wicket-taker with 330 in 72 Tests,has been auctioning his considerable expertise mostly in England with hisformer county, Warwickshire. But now he will be ploughing his considerableexperience back into South African cricket.”It’s not nice working in another country, especially with the talent wehave here,” Donald said during the first one-day international between SouthAfrica and New Zealand in Bloemfontein on Sunday.According to Vintcent van der Bijl, the former Natal, Transvaal andMiddlesex bowling hero who is now Cricket South Africa’s general manager ofprofessional cricket, Donald’s role will be “coaching our young aspirants toensure they are Test-ready”.”I’ll be placing an unbelievable emphasis on intensity,” Donald said. “The intensity needsto be lifted in our franchises by some notches. It’s not true that our conveyor belt of fast bowlers has stopped. We have a list of 15 potential guys who I will be working really hard with. Especially fringe guys like Dale Steyn and Monde Zondeki, they can come up a notch or two.””We now have a balance between a batting and bowling focus in the highperformance programme and it’s great to have people who have just come outof the game,” Van der Bijl said. “We are delighted that one of the trulygreat fast bowlers, with all his expertise and, most importantly, Testexperience, is joining Gary Kirsten, who has an equally impressiveinternational pedigree. Allan is a master at his trade.”