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Allan Donald

Personal information
Full name	Allan Anthony Donald
Born	(1966-10-20) 20 October 1966 (age 57) Bloemfontein, Orange Free State Province, South Africa
Nickname	White Lightning
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	South Africa (1991–2003)
Test debut (cap 238)	18 April 1992 v West Indies
Last Test	24 February 2002 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 2)	10 November 1991 v India
Last ODI	27 February 2003 v Canada
ODI shirt no.	10
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1985/86–2003/04	Orange Free State/Free State
1985/86–1986/87	Impalas
1987–2000	Warwickshire
2002	Worcestershire
Head coaching information
Years	Team
2013	Pune Warriors
2020–2022	Knights
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 72 164 316 458 Runs scored 652 95 2,785 544 Batting average 10.68 4.31 12.05 7.88 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/1 0/0 Top score 37 13 55* 23* Balls bowled 15,519 8,561 58,801 22,856 Wickets 330 272 1,216 684 Bowling average 22.25 21.78 22.76 21.84 5 wickets in innings 20 2 68 11 10 wickets in match 3 0 9 0 Best bowling 8/71 6/23 8/37 6/15 Catches/stumpings 18/– 28/– 115/– 74/–
Source: Cricinfo, 4 July 2009

Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a South African former cricketer who is also the current bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his lightning quick bowling, he is considered one of the South Africa national cricket team's most successful pace bowlers. He was an important, integral and crucial member of the South African team in its resurgence into international cricket since readmission and played an influential role as a frontline genuine seam bowler to boost South Africa to new heights since its readmission to international cricket. During his playing career, he instilled fear among the batsmen with his speed, hostility and aggression on the field. He is known for his duels with some of the best batsmen of his generation including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Atherton and Steve Waugh. He is also best remembered for his infamous iconic runout during the 1999 World Cup semi-final match between South Africa and Australia which eventually dented South Africa's golden run in the global showpiece. He became the first South African to take 300 test wickets.

Donald was one of the top fast bowlers in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998, peaking with a ranking of 895 points the next year. In One Day Internationals (ODIs), he reached 794 points in 1998, ranked second behind teammate Shaun Pollock. He shared the new ball with Pollock from the 1996/1997 tour of India until his retirement in 2002. Donald is known for his bromance and friendship with Shaun Pollock especially when they used to be regular bowling partners for South Africa during their playing careers. Donald described Pollock as South Africa's Glenn McGrath. He featured in four World Cup tournaments for South Africa in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003.

During his playing career, he was well known for applying zinc cream on his cheeks and nose to avoid the effects of sunburn. During the mid-1990s, he was the fastest bowler in the globe and whenever he bowled, a puff of dust came from the pitch. He was one of the 10 South African cricketers to make their test debuts during their one-off test tour to the West Indies in 1992. He was part of South Africa's first ever ODI team as well as South Africa's first ever World Cup team. He had picked up a total of 38 wickets in across the four World Cup tournaments he played and is currently the second all-time leading wicket taker for South Africa in World Cups, after Imran Tahir.

His ODI bowling career average of 21.78 is also the joint best average alongside Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq for bowlers with a minimum of 200 ODI wickets. Only three bowlers in test cricket have taken more wickets than Donald at a better average than him and they are Glenn McGrath, Curtly Ambrose and Malcolm Marshall.

Since retiring Donald has been a coach with a number of teams, including international sides. From 2018 to 2019 he was the Assistant Coach at Kent County Cricket Club in England. In 2019, Donald was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Early life

He used to be in a dilemma during his early life as a clueless youngster on which sport to choose among rugby and cricket. In an interview with The Guardian, he revealed that rugby is the number one sport in South Africa while cricket is number two with football filling in as number three. He revealed that he used to play as a flyhalf and as a fullback in his early days and later he joined the army but he quickly realized rugby is for big men and decided to quit the sport and took up cricket. He completed his primary education at the Technical High School.

He rose to prominence and limelight after taking 9/16 against his uncle's school Grey College in Bloemfontein and due to his breakthrough performance, he made it to the Orange Free State team in 1984. However, he had an injury and couldn't take part further before reaching to the standards required to play at first-class level. He subsequently missed out the opportunity to play on the Nuffield Week and also missed out on a golden opportunity of potentially being picked for South African schools cricket side. But, he still managed to be picked as a twelfth man for South Africa Schools XI in 1984 and 1985. He had to wait one more year following the injury to make his first-class debut in 1985.

Domestic career

In November 1985, he made his first-class debut in the Currie Cup playing for Orange Free State against the Transvaal cricket team at the age of just 19 and he was included for the match at the last minute as an injury replacement to Corrie van Zyl who injured his foot badly prior to the match. He was originally supposed to be the twelfth man of the side during the match but was called upon by his captain Chris Broad just ten minutes before the toss. He managed to pick up just the sole wicket of Jimmy Cook on his first-class debut at Transvaal, Johannesburg.

He became an integral member of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club and was a mainstay of the club for several years. He prolonged his county career and nurtured his bowling skillsets at a time especially with South Africa still serving a ban from international cricket. He joined the Warwickshire club in 1987 as an overseas player. Initially, he got only a limited number of matches under his belt during his stint with Warwickshire as he shared the overseas slot with West Indian fast bowler Tony Merrick. Between 1987 and 1989, he managed to play just 18 matches in the first two seasons for the club as the club opted for giving a fair share of opportunities to both Donald and Merrick. He played an important part in helping the club to win the 1989 NatWest Bank Trophy by picking up 14 wickets in the tournament, the most by any bowler in that tournament. The club released Merrick following the end of 1989 season which paved way for Donald to become a regular fixture in the side. However, his county career was clouded with confusions yet again as Warwickshire signed Australian batsman Tom Moody for the 1990 season. Largely, to his relief, the club persisted with Donald by handing him a long-term contract commencing from the 1991 season, despite the consistent performances from Moody in the county championships. He repaid the faith nearly helping Warwickshire to win the 1991 County Championship with his bowling prowess capturing 83 wickets at 19.68 as he was behind only Pakistan's Waqar Younis in terms of the bowling averages during that championship.

He was a crucial member of the side which claimed two trophies including the 1995 NatWest Trophy and 1995 County Championship in a single English season in 1995. He also picked up a tally of 89 wickets in 1995 for the club. He was the joint highest wicket taker during the 1995 NatWest Trophy picking up 11 scalps along with Anil Kumble. Interestingly, Warwickshire had initially told Donald that the 1995 season would be his last with the club in order to recruit West Indian veteran Brian Lara. However, Lara pulled out due to personal reasons and as a result Donald was handed a further two-year contract with the club. His long association with the Warwickshire club which dates back to 1987 was finally ended in 2000 with both Donald and the club mutually agreeing to part ways. He later joined Worcestershire County Cricket Club for the 2002 season.

He made his T20 debut for Eagles against Dolphins at the 2004 Standard Bank Pro20 Series.

International career

A graph showing Donald's test career bowling statistics and how they have varied over time.

He made his ODI and international debut for South Africa against India on 10 November 1991 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata which also turned out to be South Africa's comeback return to international cricket after serving years long ban from international cricket due to apartheid. It was also South Africa's very first One Day International appearance as well as South Africa's first competitive international match in 22 years and Donald was the second cap of the South African ODI side. He picked up a five-wicket haul on his ODI debut including the priced wickets of Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, Navjot Singh Sidhu and despite his heroics with the ball, South Africa lost the match by three wickets. His fifer also gave a glimmer of hope for Proteas as South Africa gave good fightback against a strong Indian batting line-up in its attempt to defend a meagre total of 177. His bowling spell of 5/29 in 8.4 overs stood as the best bowling performance by a South African bowler on ODI debut for 24 years and the record was later surpassed by Kagiso Rabada who returned with the bowling figures of 6/16 against Bangladesh on his ODI debut in 2015. He became the first South African bowler to take a fifer on ODI debut as well as the first South African to take a five-wicket haul for South Africa in ODI history.

He was included in South African squad for the 1992 Cricket World Cup which also marked South Africa's maiden appearance in a World Cup tournament. On 26 February 1992, he featured in South Africa's memorable first ever World Cup match which was against Australia and starred with the ball in the first match of South Africa during the 1992 World Cup. Donald ran through the Aussie top order but he was largely unsuccessful and unlucky to create a breakthrough in his first over. He would have claimed a wicket off his first ball in the match when a peach of a delivery by Donald which shaped away from Geoff Marsh but his wicket taking opportunity was denied when the umpire Brian Aldridge did not hear anything despite what seemed to be a clear outside edge off Marsh's bat which went straight into the wicketkeeper's hands. He could have gained a unique distinction and could have been in an elite list of bowlers to have taken a wicket off his first delivery in a World Cup match had the umpire signaled it as out. However, despite the early setback, he came back strongly and picked up 3/34 in his 10 over spell which eventually reduced Australia to 170/9 in 49 overs and South Africa chased down the target by nine wickets with ease to start their 1992 World Cup campaign in some style. The victory by South Africa shocked host nation Australia as newcomers South Africa announced their arrival in World Cups. He would be part of the South African side which enjoyed a tremendous run by reaching the semi-final stage of the tournament before going down to England in the semis under the most unfortunate circumstances due to controversial rain rule. He picked up 13 wickets in 1992 World Cup (the most for South Africa during the 1992 World Cup) at an impressive average of 25.3 and at an economy rate of 4.21.

He made his test debut on 18 April 1992 at the age of 26 against the West Indies in the one-off test tour to the West Indies at Barbados, a test match which also marked the historic occasion of being South Africa's first test in nearly 22 years since their readmission. The test match also marked South Africa's first ever test match against a non-white nation as it was also their first test ever against the West Indies. On his debut he scored a pair including a 21 ball duck in the first innings. However, he shined with the ball on his test debut picking up six wickets (2–67 and 4–77) for the match inclusive of a four-wicket haul in the second innings. He also picked up the priced wicket of Brian Lara. However, West Indies managed to win the one-off test by 52 runs to take the series 1–0.

During the Boxing Day test match against India which commenced on 26 December 1992, he recorded one of the best bowling performances of his career with 12 scalps for the match picking up five-wicket hauls in both the innings to help South Africa win the match convincingly by nine wickets and Donald was adjudged the player of the match. He grabbed 5/55 in the first innings to restrict India to just 212, following it up with a much improved spell of 7/84 in second innings to restrict India to just 215. It was significantly the only match won by South Africa during that four match test series at home against India in 1992 (it was also South Africa's first home test series since readmission) as India gave South Africa a run for their money throughout the series whereas three tests ended in draw without a result. It was also South Africa's first test series win after its return to international cricket. Donald was also the leading wicket taker during the series who picked up 20 wickets for the series and was adjudged the player of the series especially for his role by playing the role of a spearhead in helping South Africa to claim the 4 match test series 1–0. For his spectacular performances in 1992, he was voted as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1992.

He was part of the South African test squad which made a historic tour to England in 1994 to play their first test series in English soil after a gap of 29 years and also remarkably their first series in England post-apartheid era. He immediately made a big impact on the tour as he inspired South Africa to a famous 356 run win at iconic Lord's over England in the first test of the three match test series with a crucial fifer in the first innings. He became the first South African bowler in 39 years since Hugh Tayfield to pick up a five wicket-haul at Lord's and he sealed his spot in the Lord's honours boards. During the third and final test match of the series against England in August 1994, he recorded one of the most expensive bowling spells in terms of having a higher/worse economy in an innings of a test match when he conceded 96 runs in 12 overs at an economy of 8, during the fourth innings of the match. This bowling performance from Donald would put him in fourth position in terms of recording a worse economy rate in an innings of a test match by a bowler.

He featured in South African ODI and test squads for the historic home series against England in 1995 as it marked the first instance of England touring South Africa to play a test series since South Africa's readmission to cricket scene. He won the man of the series award for his brilliant display with the ball as he also picked the joint most wickets in the series from either sides along with Dominic Cork with a tally of 19 wickets. In the second match of the series at Johannesburg, the battle between Atherton and Donald became intense especially with the way Atherton batted towards the end of the match to save England from an humiliating embarrassing defeat by scoring unbeaten 185 off 492 balls in a mammoth improbable test chase of 479. Atherton had to deal and cope up with the hostile pace attack of Donald and spent whopping 643 minutes at the crease for over two days to secure a thrilling draw.

He was part of the South African squad which reached quarter-finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. During a group stage match between the United Arab Emirates and South Africa in the 1996 World Cup, UAE skipper Sultan Zarawani faced Donald without a helmet as he only wore a sunhat on his head, which literally frustrated Donald and the gesture of Zarawani had prompted him to bowl fierce bouncers on the batsman. Sultan came to bat when UAE was reeling at 68/6 in a huge run chase of 322 and was subsequently hit on the head by a fierce bouncer delivered by Donald. Donald recorded in his autobiography that he feared initially that he had killed him. Despite the blow, Zarawani still continued to refuse the offer of a helmet but only lasted six more balls before he was dismissed and taken straight to hospital. During the quarter-final he went wicketless conceding 50 runs in 8 overs as West Indies won the match by a narrow margin of 19 runs. He was the leading wicket-taker for South Africa during the 1996 World Cup with eight wickets.

He played a key role in South Africa's triumph over India in the final of the 1996–97 Standard Bank International One-Day Series where he was the pick of the bowlers in the final with 3/48. He was also the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 18 scalps. During the Tri-series final at Durban, Donald "got involved in an incident that has since caused [him] a lot of grief". Donald was being hit around the park by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the final as Dravid top-scored for India with 84. He received media backlash for possibly using racial languages during his spat with Dravid. Donald said he got carried away and confronted Dravid face-to-face saying "This isn't such an easy game". He was an integral member of the South African which won the four nation Sameer Cup 1996–97 where South Africa emerged victorious in the final after defeating Pakistan by 7 wickets and he was the leading wicket taker during the tournament taking 14 wickets.

He led the bowling charts in test cricket for the year 1998 as he ended up as the leading wicket taker in across all test matches for the calendar year 1998 with a tally of 80 wickets. His record tally of 80 wickets is also the fourth most by any bowler in a single calendar year in test cricket history just behind Shane Warne (96 scalps in 2005), Muttiah Muralitharan (90 scalps in 2006) and Dennis Lillee (85 scalps in 1981). On 26 December 1998, during a test match against the West Indies, he became the then quickest South African to reach 250 test wickets (now the fourth fastest bowler in test history to reach 250 test scalps) in terms of number of test matches and he achieved it in his 50th test match. His South African record was later surpassed by his successor Dale Steyn who did it in 49 test matches.

He was one of the key players to miss out the inaugural edition of the ICC KnockOut Trophy in 1998 as he alongside Klusener and Roger Telemachus were undergoing a mandatory forced period of rest as per the player management policies, guidelines and directive of CSA. He also subsequently missed the 50 over cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

He was part of the South African squad in their tour of England in 1998 featuring in both test and ODI squads. He would make a substantial impact in the historic five match test series by picking up a tally of 33 wickets, the highest by any bowler from either teams during the series. The test series was mostly known for fierce and atrocious competition between Donald and Atherton as both showed their temperament and class throughout the series and also tend to sledge each other in the series which would often end up in heated exchanges. England would eventually come back stronger from 1-0 down to win the series 2-1 but Donald alongside Atherton were awarded the player of the series trophy. During the fourth test of the series at Trent Bridge South Africa batted first, scoring 374 in their first innings. England responded with 336, with Donald taking 5 wickets. In their second innings, South Africa only scored 208 leaving England a target of 247 to win the match. Michael Atherton was at the crease when Donald began a spell of bowling both would later describe in their respective autobiographies as one of the most intense periods of test match cricket they ever played. At one point, he had a huge opportunity to dismiss Atherton as he appealed for a caught behind dismissal off his bowling, where the batsman had seemingly gloved the ball, but the umpire was not interested with the appeal and as a result, Atherton survived with a lifeline from the on-field umpire. He bowled bodyline spells to Atherton. Donald bowled multiple bouncers to Atherton, but he survived several close chances to remain not out at the end of the day. The next day Atherton along with Alec Stewart were able to score the remaining runs, with Atherton finishing on 98. Several years later, Atherton gave Donald the gloves he wore on this occasion for Donald's benefit year auction.

1999 World Cup

In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, South Africa had progressed to the semi-finals, and Donald until then had an excellent tournament, taking 12 wickets in 8 matches.

In the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia, Donald was the last batsman on the South African team. Australia batting first making only 213, Donald taking 4–32 and Pollock 5–36. The game swung back and forth with South Africa eventually needing to score 16 runs off the last 8 balls to win with only one wicket remaining. Klusener scored consecutive fours in the first two balls of the over (bowled by Damien Fleming), levelling the scores and leaving South Africa with only 1 run to win in 4 balls with Klusener on strike. The third ball was a dot, and Donald narrowly escaped getting run out when he backed out too far and tried to get back to his crease. The fourth saw Klusener mis-hit his shot to mid-wicket fielder Mark Waugh. Klusener went for the run, although chances of a run-out were high and two balls were still remaining. However, Donald at the other end, keeping his eyes on the ball and hoping to avoid another mix-up like in the last delivery, did not see Klusener sprinting down the pitch and did not hear the call to run, and Klusener was almost at the bowler's end by the time Donald (who had also dropped his bat) began running. By then, Waugh had thrown the ball to Fleming, who rolled it to Adam Gilchrist who took the bails off at the other end, meaning Donald was run-out by some distance for a diamond duck as Donald was only halfway down the pitch, thus ending the match with the scores level. However, a tie meant that Australia progressed to the final since they had beaten South Africa in the group stages of the tournament. Although the match technically ended in a tie, South Africa had previously lost to Australia in the Super-Six phase, and needed to win outright to progress to the final. As commentator Bill Lawry put it during the final ball:

"...this will be out surely – oh it's out, it's gonna be run out...oh, that is South Africa out – Donald did not run, I cannot believe it. Australia go into the World Cup Final – ridiculous running with two balls to go. Donald did not go, Klusener came – what a disappointing end for South Africa."

In 2014, Klusener stated in an interview that Donald was not to blame for what happened. Klusener stated that he became impatient and, although he made it to the bowler's end, there was genuinely no run. After the match, he was cross at himself and regretted attempting the run.

Donald finished the 1999 World Cup tournament as the second leading wicket taker for South Africa with 16 scalps just one wicket behind Klusener. His 16 wickets came at an impressive average of 20.31 and at an economy rate of 3.96.

Post 1999 World Cup

His reputation started to take a hit among public following South Africa's exit from the 1999 World Cup as public opinions on him were mostly critical of his approach regarding running between the wickets especially when he engaged in the brainfade runout which cost South Africa a golden chance to reach their first ever World Cup final. Although, he was largely successful with the ball throughout the tournament, his World Cup heroics with the ball was largely overshadowed by the runout incident which is still remembered by South Africans. He was seen as a villain by many South Africans and he received negative publicity due to media bashing him for his blunder during the crucial stage of the semi-final. He received severe opposition from ardent cricket fans upon his arrival to South Africa from England after the World Cup semi-final.

On 19 November 2000 during the first test of the three match home series against New Zealand, he reached the milestone of 300 test wickets, the first South African to achieve the feat.

He announced his retirement from test cricket in January 2002 soon after playing the first test match of the three match home series against Australia at Johannesburg. He broke down with emotions as South Africa endured a crushing defeat in the hands of Australia by an innings and 360 runs. However, it was later revealed that he was forced to give up test cricket due to flow of injuries which started to take a toll on his fitness levels and body. On 13 September 2002, he became the fastest South African bowler to pick 250 ODI wickets in terms of matches (148), a feat he achieved during the group stage match between South Africa and the West Indies during the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and also became the third joint-fastest bowler in the world to do so along with Waqar Younis in 148 ODI matches.

He featured in his fourth and final World Cup tournament in 2003 which was also a home World Cup for himself as the tournament was jointly conducted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. By, the time he was already 37 and way past his prime. He retired from ODI cricket and from international cricket following South Africa's disastrous 2003 World Cup campaign where South Africa were knocked out from group stage for the first time. He himself too had an awful World Cup tournament personally as he managed to pick up only one wicket in three matches with a mediocre average of 133.

He retired from all forms of cricket in 2004 after playing in his final home domestic season citing deterioration of physical conditions.

When he retired, he was South Africa's record wicket-taker with 330 Test wickets at an average of 22.25, and claimed 272 One Day International wickets at an average of 21.78. Both of these records have now been overtaken by Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock respectively.

After retirement

Having retired from playing, Donald pursued a commentary stint with the South African Broadcasting Corporation. (SABC) in their coverage of South Africa's home Tests, alongside former teammate Daryll Cullinan. In May 2007, Donald was appointed as a temporary bowling consultant for the England cricket team. His involvement impressed many, and was praised by several players. Donald's original brief contract was extended until September 2007. Donald decided not to continue with his coaching role at the end of September 2007, citing the strain of touring and his wish to be with his family. Donald was a coach at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, and in partnership with fellow coach Ashley Giles helped the county to win the Second Division of the County Championship in 2008.

Donald coached the reigning Zimbabwean domestic champions, Mountaineers, in 2010. He served as the bowling coach for the New Zealand cricket team for the ODI series against Pakistan, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. In May 2011, he was one of the top contenders who was willing to become the fast bowling coach of Australian cricket team but he lost the opportunity as Cricket Australia opted to pick countryman Craig McDermott instead. As a result, according to a report in May 2011, Donald decided to rejoin New Zealand cricket coaching staff after previously serving in an interim capacity on a contractual basis and he was tipped to sign a two-year deal with New Zealand Cricket. However a month later as of June 2011, he later reversed his decision and stated he had ambitions in order to secure a coaching position in South African cricket.

In July 2011, Donald was drafted into Gary Kirsten's coaching team as bowling coach to the South African cricket team. Kirsten left his post in May 2013, and Russell Domingo was appointed as his replacement. Donald was the bowling coach of South Africa under head coach Domingo; he was replaced by Charl Langeveldt. Donald was also the bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. In 2012, there were reports claiming that he would join the Bangladeshi coaching staff but he denied such reports insisting that he would remain with he South African cricket.

He was appointed as the bowling coach of the Pune Warriors India for the 2012 Indian Premier League replacing Geoff Marsh. He was later promoted as the head coach of the Pune Warriors India for the 2013 Indian Premier League.

Donald stepped down from the position of South Africa bowling coach post the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

In 2016, reports emerged that he would be considered in an interim capacity as a temporary bowling coach of Australia for the test tour to Sri Lanka and home series against South Africa.

Donald was appointed assistant coach at Kent County Cricket Club in early 2017. He was expected to join the county at the start of the 2017 season but was denied a work permit as he did not, at the time, hold a suitable coaching qualification. As a result, in April 2017, Sri Lanka hired Donald as bowling consultant for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and Donald did not work with Kent during the 2017 season. He was successful in obtaining his Level 3 coaching qualification during 2017 and formally joined Kent in early 2018, leading the team during the 2017–18 Regional Super50 competition ahead of the 2018 English season. He also subsequently left Kent at the end of the 2019 season.

In September 2019, he was roped in as a consulting coach by the Free State Cricket Union for all Free State cricket teams for the duration of October 2019.

In February 2020, he was appointed head coach of the Knights franchise for the upcoming 2020–21 CSA T20 Challenge.

In March 2022, he was appointed as the pace bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team until the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Legacy

South African wicket-keeper batsman Dane Vilas played the role of him in the 2008 film Hansie which was based on the life story of former Proteas captain Hansie Cronje.

Fellow South African seamer Nantie Hayward who used to admire Donald and consider him as his role model stated that he had probably played in the wrong era due to the presence of Donald. He conceded that his international career was cut short due to South Africa penetrating with Donald and Makhaya Ntini but recalled the Donald's epic spell to Atherton in the 1998 test as something he was glad to have witnessed it and he insisted that it was one of the best bowling spells that he has ever seen. Nantie added that there is nothing better to watch than Allan running in like that.

Atherton would also be famously known as Donald's bunny as Atherton has been dismissed by Donald 11 times across 17 test matches although the 1995 test match at Johannesburg and 1998 test match at Trent Bridge are rare exceptions where Atherton would eventually survive the tight spell from Donald.

The iconic moment which was created when Sultan Zarawani faced a rampant Allan Donald has also been included in the ‘'Second XI: Cricket in its Outposts'’, a book which talks about the evolution of associate cricket. The book also illustrate why he went onto face Allan Donald with a sunhat on his head instead of a helmet and Zarawani himself recalled the incident and shared his experiences on the book.

He was also loyal towards his former captain Cronje whom he referred to as a person with the ability to lead the side with ease and called him as a natural leader. He has also authored his autobiography titled White Lightning.

In July 2019, Donald was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

See also

In Spanish: Allan Donald para niños