Donald advised to seek divine intervention

Paul Martin in Cape Town

Allan Donald has been advised that he needs divine intervention rather than just some luck to overcome a string of ailments that have repeatedly kept him out of the South African team, just as he appears each time to have recovered.

Regularly rated among the world’s top three bowlers, the South African speedster has again had to withdraw from Tuesday's third one-dayer against Sri Lanka in Paarl. The problem this time is an abscess on his right elbow, apparently incurred when he was fielding and dived on an existing graze.

"There must have been some infection in the grass just where he dived," explained manager Goolam Raja.

Now the good Goolam is not a medical man. But he is quite a religious person, proud of his Muslim inheritance. His only advice to the perplexed and frustrated Donald was to tell him that he needs heavenly intervention or forgiveness, and he should get going "to a church or a mosque -- fast!"

Yes, it may have been a bit of banter, but Donald must feel that the cricketing deities, at least, have it in for him.

Now aged 34, but sill looking lean, fit and mean, he was included in the team for Tuesday’s one-day match against Sri Lanka after he was declared fully fit from a stomach muscle injury. He had got his graze fielding in the second Test against New Zealand, then had to sit out the third Test against New Zealand last month, and also the first two one-day internationals. He's missed the two Tests played so far against Sri Lanka.

Then the apparently innocuous injury turned septic and Donald’s elbow was drained on Friday night.

He hopes he’ll be fit in time for the fourth one-dayer on Thursday back at Newlands, Cape Town, though Raja says the chances of that are only "fifty-fifty".

At net practice Donald arrived sporting a large bandage around his arm, and being uncharacteristically uncommunicative. He agreed to talk to rediff.com, but only after he first got clearance from his manager, which had already been granted, and then only, he said, for three minutes after the net practice nearly 20 hours after he was asked.

Rediff.com has declined this "exclusive", on the grounds that we prefer a longer, more penetrating interview. He should know that we ourselves, just like himself, do not take kindly to being considered second best -- or to sitting on the sidelines with a stop-watch.

We hope he will recover not just his ability to perform physically on the field, but to do so verbally off the field as well.

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