Bangladesh cricket bosses are apparently not too impressed with Allan Donald after Protea fast bowling legend Shakib Al Hasan questioned his performance against Sri Lanka.
There was drama in Delhi on Tuesday when Angelo Mathews became the first ever international batsman to lose his wicket for not being ready in time to face his first delivery.
Donald, who in his playing days was known for his fiery game, is nowadays the Tigers’ fast bowler coach and in an interview with CricBlog.net he described the incident as “disappointing” and that he did not agree with it.
“I do not like it. It was really difficult to see how everything unfolded – one of Sri Lanka’s best ever players being given out without facing a single delivery,” said the South African.
Mathews struggled with a broken tire on his helmet as he prepared to take on Al Hasan. Although he immediately requested a different helmet, it took too long for the Tigers captain’s liking and the Bangladesh star appealed to umpire Marais Erasmus.
A while later, the 36-year-old Sri Lankan batsman was given out.
“It would probably have been wiser to give him (Mathews) an opportunity to sort things out. I was shocked to see that he had to make his way back to the locker room. I just think that there is no place for such things in the game,” Donald concluded.
Needless to say, his comments were not welcomed with open arms by the country’s cricket bosses.
“He could have shared his personal opinion with everyone later,” a Bangladesh cricket official complained to Cricinfo.
“Allan Donald is a member of the management and to publicly comment on a team decision is a violation of the code of conduct. He could much rather have spoken to the player in question, or shared his dissatisfaction with the cricket board.”
However, it is doubtful whether action will be taken against Donald – according to Cricinfo, he has no plans to extend his contract when it expires after the World Cup.
