Full throttle the way to success in SL: Donald

Allan Donald will preach a 'go hard or go home' message to his troupe of quicks when he takes over as Australia’s fast bowling coach for the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka later this year.

Donald, the former South African pace ace who says he would "love" to stay on with the Australia team at the completion of his interim stint in Sri Lanka, brings to the role a wealth of experience in subcontinental conditions as well as a reputation as one of the game’s most feared fast bowlers.

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And he has a simple message for those charged with carrying Australia’s fast bowling stocks on Sri Lankan pitches that have historically offered little to encourage seam bowlers, and in a region where Australian Test teams have struggled to perform consistently.

Over the past decade, Australia have won just three of the 17 Tests they have played on the Asian continent (including Sri Lanka and the 2013 series against Pakistan in the UAE) with two of those victories coming against strugglers Bangladesh.

The other came in the first Test of their previous tour to Sri Lanka in 2011 at Galle, with the final two Tests of that series ending in draws as the home team's batters dug in on lifeless pitches where wickets were hard-earned.

Image Id: ~/media/4C21FCFD0B27417E9AD596AABC4C676D Image Caption: The third Test in 2011 was a draw despite Peter Siddle's four-wicket haul // Getty Images

But Donald, who in addition to working with the South Africa team from 2011-15 has overseen the bowling program at IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore where Mitchell Starc has played, says the role of pace bowlers on flat, subcontinent pitches is to keep operating at full throttle.

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His message will be that short, sharp spells rather than containment bowling is the secret to success in unhelpful conditions and that – in keeping with the philosophy held by Bupa Support Staff Head Coach Darren Lehmann – velocity is crucial to shaping a bowling team’s innings.

"When Bob Woolmer was our (South Africa’s) coach he used to say that when you got the ball in hand it was always about bowling for four or five overs and trying to make an impact through that pure aggression and velocity," Donald told cricket.com.au from India.

"You can’t be allowed, in Sri Lanka, to bowl within yourself.

"If you bowl 150 (km/h) you can’t be allowed to go down to the 130s, or even touching 140.

"If you’re that sort of (genuinely fast) bowler you’re going to bowl shorter spells but you’re trying to make an impact all the time by being very creative with your thinking first of all, and having a licence from your skipper to be able to do that.

"To be able to create that pressure with that pace all day takes some skill, and obviously a great deal of fitness and stamina.

"And to have an attack like that doesn’t come easy.

"It’s a matter of attitude to be able to sustain that throughout the day, let alone the five days."

Donald, who took 36 wickets at 20.33 in his nine Test matches in Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan from 1993-2000, claimed the challenge for fast bowlers in the subcontinent is to find ways to use the time between those brief but ballistic spells to come up with a plan to get wickets.

While the make-up of Australia’s bowling attack for the three-match series won't be known until the squad is named sometime next month, it is expected to be led by Starc and fellow New South Wales quick Josh Hazlewood, with James Pattinson's availability dependent on his recovery from a shin injury.

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The selectors will then be forced to decide whether Peter Siddle and Jackson Bird – both members of the most recent Test touring party to New Zealand – will be suited to less seam-friendly conditions or if a dual spin attack of Nathan Lyon and possibly Steve O’Keefe might be preferable.

Given the bowling experience he has gained on the subcontinent during the recent ICC World T20 in India and the current IPL tournament, Mitchell Marsh is also likely to play a key role as a seam-bowling allrounder.

"In Sri Lanka you’re going to need a full bowling attack – if you’ve got three seamers you’re going to need all three of them, it’s not just one guy who makes that impact,” Donald said.

"But (having all bowlers) thinking along the same lines and executing really well is going to be a massive key over there.

"The most exciting thing for me playing in the subcontinent was to always be creative and all the time be thinking on your feet, not so much when you’re bowling but when you’ve got a little bit of time off in resting periods (between spells).

"So coming with new ideas all the time, and the challenge of being that guy who can make a difference."

Donald, who played 72 Tests and 164 one-day internationals for South Africa, views his interim appointment for the Sri Lanka tour that begins in mid-July as a chance to stake his claim for a more permanent relationship with the world’s current number Test and ODI outfit.

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A permanent replacement for Craig McDermott, who filled the role for three years before bowing out at the end of the recent WT20 tournament to devote more time to his personal bowling academy, has yet to be named.

But 49-year-old Donald has indicated he hopes to be among the candidates when that decision is made.

"If that opportunity (for a full-rime role) came along I’d love to work with Boof (Lehmann) and his team, without a shadow of a doubt,” Donald said.

"For the moment, it is just an opportunity to come in and spend some time with them and the Australian (cricket) culture, and I understand what the Australian culture has been for so long because I’ve endured it as a cricketer.

"So being part of that now is something very special for me, and very humbling.

"If it does happen to be a long-term thing I would absolutely love to do that, but we’ll take it small steps at a time and see how that goes."

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