Allan Donald

He made his Test debut on 18 April 1992 alongside fellow debutante Hansie Cronje, losing to the West Indies in Barbados by 52 runs, but taking 2-67 and 4-77 (including the prized scalp of Brian Lara for 64). His final Test started on 22 February 2002 against Australia at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. It was a disastrous result, South Africa losing to Australia by an innings and 360 runs, Donald taking only 1 wicket for 77 runs.

Known as 'white lightning', he is remembered as a fearsome fast bowler, scowling and aggressive, with a famous horizontal white line of sunscreen across his cheeks and nose. He finished his career as 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.

In the 1992 cricket World Cup opening game for South Africa, umpire Brian Aldridge from New Zealand gave Geoff Marsh not out on the first ball of the match bowled by Allan Donald, after he edged the ball to wicket-keeper Dave Richardson.

In 1997 he came under intense scrutiny by the international cricket media after he was alleged to have used racially abusive language against India's Rahul Dravid in the finals of a triseries. Allan Donald speaks of this incident in his autobiography, White Lightning;

"...in the middle of a noisy, partisan atmosphere, with the final in the balance, ...I got involved in an incident that has since caused me a lot of grief, leading to accusations that I am a racist.

" I was really pumped by the time Tendulkar and Dravid came together, but they soon got after me. Tendulkar pulled me for a flat six over midwicket, a wonderful shot...but when Dravid smashed me for six and four, I got carried away in typical fast bowler's fashion. I walked right up to him, face to face, and snarled, 'This isn't such a f****** easy game' and the TV cameras had me in close-up, with everyone lip-reading my words. Dravid's eyes lit up when he saw me standing so close, and the Durban crowd absolutely loved it."

He continues -

"In the end, they [The Indians] folded, we won the Final after looking out of it, and I thought no more about it, to me it was just a high-octane period of a match that we desperately wanted to win, and we did because we had the bottle to do so. Straight afterwards, I went to Dravid and told him my words weren't meant to be personal, that it was all in the heat of the moment, it should stay out in the middle and shouldn't be a problem between us. He gave me a hard look, and left if at that. I thought no more of it..."

During the 1998 English season, he had a now famous duel with England opener, Michael Atherton. This duel has since gone down as one of the most electrifying and intense periods of Test match cricket in modern history. It happened during the Trent Bridge Test Match, which South Africa had started in a dominant fashion. They rattled up 374 in their first innings, with then-captain Hansie Cronje hammering an aggressive 126, ably supported by a 50 from Shaun Pollock and 40s from Jaques Kallis and Steve Elworthy.

England responded well with 336 in their first innings, three batsmen scoring 50s, but no-one pushing on to a hundred. Mark Ramprakash was left stranded on 67 not out, after battling away. Donald took 5-109 in the innings. And so, South Africa had a comfortable, but slender lead of 38 runs.

However, in their second innings, the South Africans were undone by an incisive innings bowling by England, led by their workhorse, Angus Fraser, who recorded excellent figures of 5-62. The South Africans were hence bundled out for 208, leaving England with a gettable - but still tricky - target of 247 to win the match.

And so, the stage was set for arguably the leading fast bowler of his generation - AD - to come out and wrest the initiative for his team. He was up against an old foe, who he got to know quite well over the years, Michael Atherton.

The final innings of the game was launched 12 overs before tea, on the fourth day. Butcher made 22 positive runs, but Shaun Pollock soon enticed an outside edge from him, he departed with the score on 40, and 'Athers' was joined by the determined Nasser Hussain. Hussain and Atherton comfortably negotiated the threats presented by Elworthy, Cronje and Kallis. It surely was only 'AD' who could wrest the initiative from England.

Donald, sensing that the match was on the line, pumped himself up and came in fast and pitched it short. Bowling from the Pavilion End of the ground, he seeked to extract some extra bounce and succeeded in discomfiting the batsmen. Both cricketers have described this vignette in their respective autobiographies, and both regard it as one of the most intense periods of Test Match Cricket they played. Allan Donald speaks of the electric atmosphere in the crowd surging him on, Atherton mentions how the ball is a blur, but he is playing well. Donald comes around the wicket and pitches it short, a dangerous ploy, where if the batsman misses, the bowler hits. Three bouncers of close to 90 mph were hurled from round the wicket, along with some angry words, at Atherton, but he was immovable.

Eventually, Donald sent a searing delivery towards Atherton, and the South Africans roared an appeal for caught behind. However, the umpire rejected the appeal.

Donald was incensed, convinced that Atherton had gloved him behind for a catch, calling Atherton a "f****** cheat", temperatures were raised a further few degrees and the audience were enthralled generating an electric atmosphere. A few deliveries later, Atherton hooks Donald - albeit without timing him sweetly - for four.

Minutes later and the crucial moment occurs. Nasser Hussain edges Pollock behind for what seems a regulation catch to the keeper. Indeed Kallis started celebrating as soon as he assumed the keeper, Mark Boucher, would claim it. However, it bounces out of Boucher's gloves, and the fact that Kallis is began his celebrations meant he couldn't take the rebound catch. Boucher was distraught, sensing that this moment may well have cost South Africa the match.

And so, the rub of the green most certainly went with the English, and the following day, although Hussain is dismissed, Alec Stewart (then captain of England) comes out and lays into the African attack. Donald can't recreate the intensity of the previous evening and England run away victors, by the perhaps unfair margin of 8 wickets.

This intense period of play, where two great performers gave it their all for their countries remains in Test Match folklore. Later on, Atherton gave Donald the gloves he was batting in for his benefit year auction.

In the 1999 cricket World Cup he, with Lance Klusener, were the final batsmen in a historic semi-final against Australia, which ended in a tie, denying them the opportunity to play Pakistan in the final.

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