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 | | You are in: You are in: Cricket: Australia v South Africa |
 | |  Monday, 25 February, 2002, 17:45 GMT Wessels: Donald needed 'coaxing'  Wessels and SA coach Mike Proctor back in 1993 Allan Donald, who has retired from Test match cricket, was almost too nice a man to be a leading bowler, explained his former captain Kepler Wessels. Wessels, in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport Online, said Donald will always be regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers in Test cricket. But he added: "You had to work very hard to make him aggressive." Wessels, who was Donald's captain on his Test debut in the West Indies in April 1992, added: "It took a lot of coaxing - he's probably too nice to be a fast bowler." The Barbados Test was South Africa's first after sporting sanctions had led to a lengthy exclusion from the official international rota.
Of the 11 South Africans playing the match only Wessels had played Tests before - for Australia. But he found it valuable that Donald, who by then was 25, had a few years under his belt playing top class cricket for Warwickshire. Wessels said: "He was always able to lend a helping hand as he was quite experienced by the time South Africa got back into Test cricket. "He is pretty good on bowling strategy and technique and so was able to help the younger guys coming into the side." "I think he did a wonderful job and he had an excellent career. It was always great having him spear-heading the attack. "He was a formidable opponent and I'm a little bit sad it's come to an end." Age a factor Donald is now 35, however, and Wessels feels that perhaps he should have bowed out of Tests about a year ago. "To be fair, he had been playing for too long," he said. "He found it difficult to get to the end of Test matches." The one performance that stands out for Wessels is Donald's feat in December 1992 at Port Elizabeth against India, when he took 12 wickets and almost single-handedly won the match.
"Those wickets turned the game," said Wessels. "And after that he consistently did the business for us." Dennis Amiss, now chief executive at Warwickshire, retired in the year Donald joined the Midlands county - 1987. "In those days, he had the pace but bowled all over the place," recalled Amiss. "He was recommended to us by Ali Bacher and soon became a great favourite of all the members, supporters and players here. "AD - we always called him that here - was a Warwickshire Bear through and through." | |
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