Allan Donald was one of the fiercest and fastest bowlers of his time, and did just as anyone else to establish South Africa as a cricket troupe to be reckoned with for isolation.
Born in Bloemfontein in 1966, Donald might have taken more than his 330 test pots, had he not had to wait until he was 25 to beat his international bow.
Still, he quickly made up for lost time, and statistically speaking, his record is flawless. With the exception of two countries, he scored less than 25 points on average and less than 30 points everywhere, except in Pakistan, where his average scored 32 points less than dizzying.
One of the fiercest and fieriest fast bowlers of all time, Allan Donald did as much as anyone to establish South Africa as a cricketing force to be reckoned with after isolation.
— ICC (@ICC) July 19, 2019
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His MRF Tires Test Bowling Ranking reached first place in 1998, taking 80 wickets – only Dennis Lillee has gained more in a 12 month period. With his best rating of 895 points he occupies the 31st place in the list of all times.
Donald also excelled in ODI cricket, scoring 272 wickets in 164 games and leading the attack on the best white side of his time. The lasting impression he has left in this format could be his retirement from the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final, which sealed a draw against Australia and the semi-finals in South Africa, which was widely recognized as the largest ODI of all time. until last sunday so.
Less memorable are his first-innings numbers of 4/32, which established the classic, and his 16 goals during the tournament.
The purely numerical evaluation neglects, however, the indelible impression he left in full flight. In a time of big fast bowlers – Wasim, Waqar, Walsh, Ambrose, to name only a few – he was one of the fastest, with Shaun Pollock, the new ball partner, providing ice to Donald’s fire. The nickname “White Lightning” brought him to perfection, and the list of big batsmen he made to jump and yell is endless.
He liked to remember his duel with Michael Atherton at Trent Bridge in 1998. The hosts followed 247, and a look at the scorecard indicated that they reached him fairly comfortably and reached the two goals to win the series level.
But a 40-minute break on the fourth night was anything but when Donald unleashed a fearsome barrage of bouncers after England’s captain had survived an unspecified glove.
The duel came to an end when Nasser Hussain, who was not a striker for much of the game, fell behind, South African stumper Mark Boucher spilled him and Donald gave a disappointment roar. But it showed not only his passion, but also his sporting ability.
Hussain recalls that the couple drank a beer at the end of the game, and the following summer Atherton poured one of his batting gloves from the innings to the proteas to thank for the contest.
