Allan Donald entry adds hype to SL Champions Trophy build up
The entry of former South African demon pace bowler, Allan Donald to the Sri Lankan cricket camp in the countdown to the June Champions Trophy in England does add a high noon dimension to the showpiece build up. Indeed, the big rumble is the Champions Trophy, and the presence of one of world cricket’s elite bowlers in the fast bowling business that earned Donald the nickname ‘White Lightning’ putting the Sri Lankans thro their paces is a highly buoying factor to Sri Lanka. The lightning fast man with the ball in the 1990s to the early 2000 era did see Allan Donald regarded as the most feared red lethal bowler of his time. So much so that his pairing with Bret Schultz, who was dubbed the bear for his dead pan hurtling down of the red cherry, did revive memories of the Jeff Thomson-Dennis Lillee days of Australian cricket in the 1970s. Donald was a rare species in the art of fast bowling of a possessed like bowler whose trademark slight grin on the face before sending down an express delivery was unnerving to batsmen. It is this lethal expert with the ball that has added to the Sri Lankan expertise fleet next to his one time South African coach Graham Ford who heads the Sri Lankan camp.
And Donald now touching 50 years, has lost no time in stating his goals to be the inspiration in bringing that South African hulk dimension to inculcate his know how to his young Sri Lankan charges; some, as Donald has acknowledged, with the pleasing knack of good work horses who need that much of fine tuning, and some raw blokes on the blocks who have impressed the maestro who has confessed that it is the young crop in the youth cricket waiting to graduate to big-time cricket that really influenced him to tie up with the Sri Lankan establishment. Of course, there was the man’s first firing up words from Donald to the rearing Sri Lankan fast bowlers that most importantly the motivating factor was the attitude. Attitude, Donald stressed was the key to optimizing for a fast bowler in rotating is speed limits from 128konald ass or 150ks, and still more importantly adapting to English wintry conditions in June in handling those two white balls right that would be key to Sri Lanka’s trophy campaign.
There was SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala announcing on Tuesday to the media the value input SLC had recognized in hiring Donald towards winning the Champions trophy. He said that the decision had been arrived at following lengthy discussions with head coach Graham Ford and head of international cricket Jayantha Dharmadasa and the cricket committee. It was taken to give greater muscle all loopholes.
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
