'I was looking for rhythm all my life'
The Daily Star (TDS): Were you afraid that you would never play Test cricket because of the isolation?
Allan Donald (AD): Absolutely, I think I was very much aware of what was going on around me. As a young kid you just grew up, you tried to do the best you can at school and represent your province wherever you can. For me the lucky break came when I played an unofficial Test for the Aussies – Kim Hughes’s Australians in 86-87. There was a guy by the name of David Brown from Warwickshire who spotted me. He came up to me during that game and asked me whether I was keen to play for England. So it was very tough – I just wanted to play cricket and obviously play for South Africa but, the more I played in England, I think it was about ’89 when I spoke to Allan Lamb and Robin Smith who said that I should really think about qualifying for England, but Dr. Bacher, he was there in ’89 and he said to me that in 1991 South Africa will play, we will be back in international cricket. It was a very serious consideration... for me, I just wanted to play international cricket, that’s it. Dr. Bacher was a massive supporter of myself and he believed in my talents and he said, just give yourself a couple of years, and I know you will be 25 years old when you make your international debut, but you’ll have a good run at it, which happened, and it was the right choice in the end.
TDS: You’ve always come across as a very passionate, patriotic player. Playing for your country must have been a big factor in that decision as well.
AD: Definitely, I mean we have all dreamt about that green baggy cap and wanted to wear that with pride. We also had to understand the troubles that South Africa went through in those days. I certainly was totally against what was happening in South Africa during those days as a young kid and growing up and near the end of it, we were fed up with it. You’ve gotta move forward, you gotta get where this country belongs and where it should be going because our sport, we’ve been absolutely isolated from the rest of the world. Because we had such good sportsmen. Rugby, cricket, doesn’t matter – athletes and as soon as that broke, for us it was such a relief, that we could not move forward. And obviously with the release of president Mandela back in those days; we just knew that that was the turning point for everyone. It was a wonderful time, then of course the 1992 World Cup happened and we just never looked back from there.
TDS: You had a very cricket loving family, you played out in the backyard and there was this strip cut out by your uncle Des.
AD: Yeah, we played a lot of cricket and broke a lot of windows in our granny and granddad’s house. I lived for that moment, as a young kid. And you can ask any South African now, you watch kids play here, like in Bangladesh and India – wherever you look people play cricket, here people play touch rugby, cricket, they absolutely loved their game. And that’s where we learnt, playing against our uncle and a few others, and obviously knowing the Cronjes was a big thing because we grew up together as kids. His brother was the same year as me, Hansie was a few years apart and we played a lot of rugby Test matches and a lot of cricket Test matches in the backyard. It was a nice way of growing up.
TDS: Which one did you like better, rugby or cricket?
AD: I was a big rugby fan growing up, massive. And I still am. But I knew what my talent was destined for. Every young rugby player in this country will tell you that their dream is to play for the Springboks, that’s what I was dreaming about but I knew my talent was heading the other way. And I gave up rugby as soon as I was done with the national service. I concentrated on my cricket career for Free State and Warwickshire.
TDS: Going back to your backyard days, how early did pace bowling become a thing for you?
AD: I actually fancied a bit of leg-spin, but my uncle [Des Donald] always pushed me and said ‘you’re not a leg-spinner. You don’t have the temperament for a leg-spinner’. So I changed that completely and started bowling fast from when I was under 13. Didn’t look back. It’s something I still muck around with in the nets every now and again, bowling some leggies, not very well. But my uncle was spot on – I don’t have the patience or the temperament for it.
TDS: Speaking of temperament, it is widely said that you are very polite and gentle off the field, but on the field it was a very different story. Was that something that came out naturally?
AD: I think so. I had an immense competitive streak in me. Once I walked across the rope and did battle it was a different story. It just came out of me naturally. It’s not something I put on because I don’t think any world-class fast bowler who have done well or are doing well, can put it on or fake it. It comes from that instinct, that burning desire -- your natural instinct just comes out. There’s a lot of effort, a lot of pride, competition with other players, competing with yourself and competing with your opponents.
The biggest challenge I had was setting realistic goals for myself, and there again my uncle was a really good guide in my life on not to think too far ahead. Think daily, not what happens at the end of the Test match. Just think what contributions you can make today. And that’s what I actually teach young kids now.
TDS: Were you like that... did you get down on yourself when you were not doing well?
AD: Not really, I think I grew out of it. I accepted the fact that it wasn’t my day. This was actually first-class cricket when I started playing. More county cricket because there you played against some unbelievable cricketers. Back in the late 80s, early 90s... [Gordon] Greenidge, [Desmond] Haynes, Gus Logie, Malcolm Marshall. That’s where I learned the game the most, in their dressing rooms. Those West Indians. Richard Hadlee, Clive Rice. There were some proper names there, guys you saw on TV. I spent time with -- picking their brains and listening to their stories. Richard Hadlee for me was the best, because he was tactically and strategically very, very good. He was a brilliant strategist and knew how to set people up. You just see what he did for New Zealand Cricket. I still have videos of him at home, watching him bowl and how he talks about fast bowling and strategies of fast bowling. And he spoke about goal setting and being realistic about that. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing people, till Bob Woolmer came around and he was my coach, not only a coach but a hell of a friend of mine and he was just fantastic. He was just a calm, level-headed bloke who knew how to get the best out of me. I think the three of us -- Hansie, me and Bob -- were a very good team, learning leadership on the field.
TDS: How important was pace in your early development, in the way you looked at fast bowling?
AD: At the start it was just really bowling fast. And I think the narrowing down of motions, narrowing down of lengths, becoming ruthless in those lengths and having a fantastic balance between aggression and coming back into a, as we would call it, the hot zone. Once I think you have learnt from the start and you come into that area where everything is like that, then you are in a good place. Then you’ve learnt so much. That takes a lot of learning, understanding and it takes patience to get there. Once I got that narrowed down, then I knew how to control pace with aggression, and patience and discipline and, most of all, bringing a serious attitude to every day.
And that happened by just bowling. You understand what you are about as a bowler once you have got through that. Pace is a God-given gift and unfortunately you can’t teach that. But once you can mix the two, it takes hours and a lot of game time to get into those channels consistently and control that passage beautifully well. Ambrose did it for a long time... Malcolm Marshall, all the greats, the West Indian greats... Lillee.
TDS: There is a similarity between you and Lillee in that both were tearaways at the start and then graduated to complete fast bowlers. There was a difference too... Lillee changed his action and you didn’t have to.
AD: Pretty much the same; I was looking for rhythm all my life, all my young career until Bob Woolmer came around and then we worked on my rhythm and we found something that works for me. Very deliberate, very smooth for me. I shortened my run-up – the best thing that I ever did. Just slowed it down. I spent about a month and a half with a spin coach, in Birmingham University around 93 or 94 and this guy just taught me how to run. I was lanky, did not have a very good stride pattern with my feet. Sprinters talk about bouncing... you watch the greatest sprinters run and they just make it look so easy. I had to find a way that suits me. I went through a lot of experiments, copied a lot of actions, a lot of rhythms until I found one that was me. So it was very deliberate, slower than normal and I had to get off the floor high, when I got into my gather. A lot of experimenting goes into that. A lot of kids want instant success, instant this and that. It takes a lot of grooving till you can become that sort of person. Understanding of yourself, understanding of your action, who you are, wjhat sort of role you play in the team, what your optimum pace is. That takes a long time. And that is just as it was for anyone who has done it before, and so it will be for any youngster trying it today.
TDS: When did you think that yes, I finally know what I am doing?
AD: I learnt my game in the UK and I had to learn very quickly because you play against so many good players. You play 24 three-day games back in those days and the more I played, the quicker I learnt. I think in 1995, that’s where I knew that I was right amongst them. I didn’t want to compare myself with anybody. I just knew that I feel now that I can control things. I think 95 to 99 was my best years. During that period I bowled the quickest, more consistently the quickest and I was probably the fittest I ever was. When I struck 2000 I had gone past my peak then. But 95 to 99 were definitely my best years. I felt i was in control, I bowled quickly consistently, and longer on most surfaces around the world. I don’t know if any fast bowler in the world has had 10 good years in a row. You just get to some point where you have a wonderful ride for three, four years and that’s really it. One thing I can absolutely pin down is the time I spent in the UK was priceless. That to me was the best learning ground for any young kid in the world. You get a county gig, you can learn so much about yourself. But international cricket is so much now, that everyone plays everywhere around the world, there is no time to send your young guys. 16 four-day games is a lot, even now. Two one-day formats, plus your Twenty20 gigs. Or play one format of the game, which pretty much is Twenty20 now, that’s what everyone wants to play.
TDS: When you went to Warwickshire, you just spoke Afrikaans, didn’t you?
AD: Well, my first year was pretty much hard to get around. I understood English pretty well, didn’t have a problem with it but I found it hard to speak. But when I came home that first year, I already had an accent, so I learnt extremely quickly. My mum and dad were very concerned that I wouldn’t cope, but I was absolutely fine with being alone and by myself and making friends very quickly. You just settle down quickly and I became friends with Trevor Penny, my very big friend from Zimbabwe and we shared a flat together for four years. He would claim that he taught me English, but he is probably right.
TDS: The four great all-rounders said that they always had an ear out for how the others were performing. The four great fast bowlers of the West Indies faded in the 1990s, and as far as extreme pace was concerned, it was you and Waqar Younis... did you have a similar rivalry?
AD: I liked Glenn McGrath as well. He followed that world ranking quite closely. You see your name in the number one spot and you know you are going to have to work your socks off to stay there over the next calendar year and still be in number one or in the top three. I know Glenn McGrath was quite fixed on that and look, he was unbelievable and he became the world’s number one for a long time. And Waqar, geez, there’s not many competitive than the two Ws. Wasim and Waqar were just devastating. Those two together, were... I think the best I ever played against was Wasim Akram. I think he was the most complete fast bowler in my era and this is not knocking the great West Indians of their era, but he was just unbelievable. White ball, red ball, best I have ever seen. Most skilful I have ever seen. There is no one better and no one more skilful in bowling with the old ball in any format of the game. He was it. And again, it was awesome to sit with especially Wasim, he was very keen to share his knowledge and share his experience with the older ball and how we worked it out bowling from angles on the crease. Wide over, wide round, I could watch him all day reversing the ball. In my coaching now, that’s what we try to achieve, you know where white ball cricket has gone. There’s no place to hide and if you are not skilful enough, then you are setting yourself up for punishment. But those two guys were, oh my word, they were fantastic. He was the greatest I have ever seen in my era, and they will all tell you that. Australians will also say that.
TDS: How was it like being part of South Africa’s readmission, playing that first ODI in India and taking those five wickets?
AD: I don’t think you could have written a better script than that to be honest. Arriving in Calcutta that morning and we didn’t realise what a reception we would get, first of all, and what an impact it had on Indian people. And to arrive in Calcutta with hundreds of thousands of people lining the road, that for me was just an eye-opener of note. And playing in front of 107,000 people, taking five for 20-odd, that for me was just a dream come true, especially at Eden Gardens where it was loud. Although we won, we lost that series 2-1, just the experience was invaluable.
TDS: Which one hurt you more, the 1992 World Cup exit or the 1999 one?
AD: ’92 wasn’t so bad. We came back to a reception like we had won the World Cup. You can’t do anything about the weather; it happens. ’99 was , to be involved in that mistake, it will never be forgotten.
TDS: You also took four wickets in that match.
AD: Yeah, four-for, had a great day with the ball. I actually did a talk out here at the beginning of this year at one of the cricket clubs and I was asked that question and I threw the question back at the floor and I said can anyone remember how many wickets I took that day, and I swear to you, not one person knew how many wickets I took that day. I said go and look it up. But that is what people will remember you for, that moment, and that’s it.
TDS: But Donald is bigger than that, in everyone’s eyes. One of the reasons everyone remembers you is the Atherton duel. There is one ball, a bouncer, that you just can’t see. What fired you up to that extent?
AD: The Test match was fairly quickly going away from us and the series was going away from us there. I went to Hansie and said, ‘Listen, I better have a crack, and I am going to be very aggressive”. This was just after tea. I bowled the first ball and I thought I am going to change my line around the wicket and he gloved it to the keeper and Mark Boucher, he was terrific during that series, taking fantastic catches. Not given out and we were all in disbelief. You look at that clip and you look around the field and you see people just devastated. So yeah, I was pretty fired up and in no uncertain terms, there were a lot of words going around. The camera always follows the bowler, and if the stump mics were turned up you would have heard a lot of stuff being said there by a lot of other players. I think he braced himself for very hostile reception. And then again it was one of those 45 minutes where I had to calm my anger down. I needed to be angry but also be very much in control of what I am doing. It could have gone anywhere. I mean the hook shot he played, that could have gone down anyone’s throat. And then, sropping Nasser Hussain was just the icing on the cake.
TDS: You reacted angrily then, and anyone would. Boucher had kept very well throughout the series, except that one ball.
AD: It was the only catch he dropped in the series, and it was a sickening moment, because you spent so much energy. We could’ve had them three or four down, five down, just by that intensity on the field. But I believe in destiny and that was not meant for us and we ended up losing the series 2-1.
TDS: At the start of the next over you came and patted him on the back. How did you switch off? How does a fast bowler do that, from such intensity?
AD: I had to go down to the end of the over and just completely relax. I didn’t want to get too hyped out about it. Switch on, switch off, we talk about that a lot. I took some time, took two balls, ran up to him and said “Listen, stay with me, we are going to get another one soon”. And he was gutted, absolutely gutted. I just wanted him to stay in the game and not worry about it too much, because the chances of it happening again and coming to him could be next over, could be this ball. You talk about that competitiveness and that’s where you care so much about what happens around you. Every delivery, there’s a massive premium on that delivery. Bob Woolmer had a great saying that every ball is an event. During that spell for me, every ball was an event. But it was awesome, we still laugh about it today, we still have a lot of discussions about it, me and Michael. When we are in England and after the day’s play, to be able to walk down to him, or he came upstairs and we had a drink together.
Look, he’s one of the most resilient players to play the game and he was a tough man to get out. And that day, you can’t blame the man for not walking. He stood his ground and the umpire has to make the call, he made the wrong call but he benefitted from it. But he stayed real gutsy during that time. Very gutsy.
TDS: Coming to batsmen, who would you rate as the best you bowled to?
AD: I think the three guys I would rate as the very best... obviously number one, technically, who could adjust his technique to any conditions was Sachin, just patient, well-organised, well-balanced. He would get himself in, then go hard. From a technical point of view he was outrageous. Second guy which I describe as an absolute genius is Lara. Pure brilliance. Completely attacking-minded, would hit good balls for four, would upset your length. Very very difficult to get out once he is flowing. But I feel with him you had a chance to take him on. Take him on, you had a chance. But once he is on a run, I found him so hard to stop.
Number three from a pure resilience point of view was Steve Waugh. Just gutsy as hell, and he thrived on playing against South Africa. Loved the challenge, wanted to be there, wanted to be on the hot seat. Again, tough man, took a lot of balls on the body. When he got himself in, you just found him very tough to remove. Look, there were a lot of great players out there. But those three for me were the top three I bowled to.
TDS: The one that you bowled Tendulkar with, in Durban 1996, after he hit you for two boundaries, was that one of the best balls in your career?
AD: I’ll probably say that was the best ball I ever bowled, but maybe that’s because of Sachin. It was a decent delivery I must say. (Laughs when reminded that it was lightning quick) On a very quick pitch as well. Nipped back a touch too. When you knock over someone of that calibre like that, it doesn’t always happen, but when it does it feels three times better.
TDS: And especially after being hit for two boundaries.
AD: It was two sloppy deliveries straight after lunch. And we often talk about those lunch balls, getting straight back into it. That wasn’t a good start, but it was a great comeback.
TDS: How do you see the T20 thing and fast bowling now as opposed to before?
AD: I think the form of Twenty20 cricket has taken bowling to another level. It has become almost a one-sided affair with the bat. I think bowling has caught up. It’s taught us a great deal about where the skill levels need to be. It’s taught us new ways to train, being more specific in training than having a monotonous net. So you’re working purely on your skill or a skill that is needed for Twenty20 cricket or for 50-over cricket. There is so much on the line that we have to take stock of in Twenty20 cricket. And the attention to detail is much bigger, from a bowling point of view. You’ve got 24 balls and you have to strategise very well. And you ‘re never out of it, and somehow you’re never in it. You need to be very clear in what you are doing. That is what it has taught me – I’ve only played two games provincially when it was a hit-and-giggle to start with. Now it’s absolutely enormous.
But I think bowling has really evolved, the skill of it, the execution. I still think it’s a batsman’s game. Now there’s a restriction on the bats. It was just getting ridiculous, stupendous how big the bats are. A lot of batsmen will probably crucify me for saying this, spoken like a true bowler, go and cry somewhere else. But because of the size of the bats and how far these guys hit the ball now. It doesn’t matter what size they play on now, whether it’s a small ground or a big ground, it’s all the same. I find the whole mindset fascinating while bowling in Twenty20.
TDS: But do you think it takes away from Test cricket. Because, talking of Bangladesh’s bowling, we have a big focus on T20 cricket. Does it take away from the skill of working batsmen out?
AD: I think you’re dead right. How much Test cricket do they play a year? When you play at home or in the subcontinent -- India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka -- you know you’re gonna get a lot of turning decks and you8r spinners will come into that/ SO seamers don’t get exposed to the tougher conditions.
With absolute respect, I could see it happen when they come here. For me, Bangladesh didn’t show any creativity in their thinking on the field -- someone taking charge. I know there wasn’t Shakib Al Hasan, he’s a big leader on the field. The captain [Mushfiqur Rahim in the Tests] is a very respected captain, but also, how can he tell his bowlers that you’ve got to try this and try that -- it’s got to come from someone. That’s the one thing that they lack.
They’ve got a very, very good man as a bowling coach in the changing room, Courtney Walsh, who probably has said all these things. But still, I found that on our flat wickets it was always going to be a very big test for them to come here – the ball didn’t reverse once. There wasn’t a great deal of pace in the bowling attack. And I just think when it came to being creative and react much quicker to a partnership developing – Bangladesh were a little bit slow catching up.
TDS: In the first ODI, they seemed cold to a partnership developing.
AD: This is what you’re gonna get in South Africa, where the ball doesn’t turn. In Bangladesh or anywhere in the subcontinent it’s hard to play those spinners there. The game slows down so much quicker. Here it doesn’t slow down.
TDS: Do you think the answer would be to play more Test cricket?
AD: I think so, that’s where you learn your best cricket. That’s where you understand yourself, where you have to experiment much quicker, and much longer and being patient with that. WE always talk about white ball cricket that the ball has got to reverse, find the way to the ball reversing. It only has to swing that much to make a differenc. In that one-dayer in Kimberley, that’s as good a wicket as you will get anywhere in the world; it didn’t turn, just slid on. But I think the best learning is coming from the longer version of the game. I think that’s where Bangladesh will really learn from, in the longer formats.
TDS: But what did you do to break partnerships.
AD: We often communicated on the field about ‘stop it there, come back.’ Our first tour of Sri Lanka, we had a guy called Brett Schultz, left-arm fast. Myself, Richard Snell, Brian McMillan – those were our four seamers. Pat Symcox was our off-spinner and Kepler Wessels rotated us very quickly. We had an advantage. WE had three guys with good pace and we had three guys who were relatively good at reversing the ball. If a partnership wasn’t coming, he’d just go left arm, and swing, swing, both sides. When I talk about creativity, it’s being able to reverse the ball from over and around, setting really silly fields and making batsmen have a look all the time. Just making batsmen never second-guess you what you are going to do. And so we were always changing fields, always being clever in creating pressure – one guy will bowl short, full, short, full. Just two guys at the same time, just go bouncer, short. Just to try and spark something. That’s what they have done for a few years on really flat pitches, like Adelaide Oval, SCG, MCG, Brisbane. I think Australian decks are the flattest in the world. Good, quick, bouncy. Ours, you haven’t played at the Wanderers, at Centurion – those are our quickest wickets.
I am sure Courtney has been talking about this to his bowlers. You just need to think out of the box all the time, not just when you were bowling. What drove Hansie nuts was... he would often say to us: ‘You’ve got to come up with a plan. So if I am standing there and if I haven’t bowled for eight overs, then I need some feedback. Let’s share information quickly. What he enjoyed more was guys asking for the ball, not just say ‘I’ll come and have a bowl’. That leadership needs to come from your senior fast men. That is something you grow into. If you don’t fancy it you will never become a leader on the field. That comes from a lot of experience, bowling a lot in England, I just enjoyed having that responsibility.
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