Broad shoulders, fire in his eyes, cream chapped on his face and a huge built - Allan Donald’s appearance on the cricket field was like a warrior which by seeing the best batsmen in the world would also fear.His weapon-the ball in his fist. Seeing taking his weapon in his hand and hurling at the batsmen at a great speed was a great scene.But unfortunately this scene will never be viewed again because the warrior has retired from the battlefield.The stress of constant bowling has taken the physical toll on Allan Donald and he has retired from cricket after bowling just 15 Overs in the Johannesburg Test.
While returning to the Pavilion he cried on his Physio’s shoulders.This pain was not only about his injury but also about letting his team and nation down.Donald played with immense dedication towards his team and never pressed for personal goals that is why inspite of injury he played for his country against Australia knowing that his team faced tough challenge.Donald has a Lion’s share in taking South Africa to its position today.
At the start of his career he started making news when he played domestic cricket for ’’Free State’’ in South Africa while his nation was banned from world cricket.He then moved to ’’Warwickshire’’ in the English County.He resisted the temptation to play for England and he waited for the embargo on South Africa to go and he debuted with South Africa playing against India in Calcutta.At that time the pace bowling department was dominated by black and brown players(Walsh, Ambrose, Waqar, etc.).But after Donald the picture changed and he got the name ’’White Lightning’’.
On his statistics Donald is one of the most successful bowlers in recent times.In his career of 72 Tests he has taken 330 wickets at the average of 22.25.He has taken 20 times 5 wickets in an innings and 10 times 10 wickets in a match.It would be very difficult for South Africa to find Donald’s successor with the same accuracy and pace as Allan Donald