“An absolute genius and a shot-maker”, Allan Donald names the three greatest batters he has come up against

Recently, former South African pacer Allan Donald was involved in a podcast with Paddy Upton called ‘Lessons From The World’s Best’. Here, Donald spilt a few interesting details about his career, including talking about the best batters that he has bowled to. In this article, we take a look as Allan Donald names the three greatest batters he has come up against in his career.

Allan Donald names the three greatest batters he has come up against

While Allan Donald’s list included Sachin Tendulkar as the No.1 player, the other names he mentioned were Brian Lara and Michael Atherton. He said that Sachin was technically the best batter that he bowled to.

Regarding West Indian legend Lara, Donald said, “The next to me who was an absolute genius and a shot-maker to boot was Brian Lara. Hitting good balls for four off back of a length, or that pick-up pull shot that he played.” Donald, who took 330 Test wickets and 272 ODI wickets also said, “He got a 100 in Durban and he got a 100 at SuperSport Park. He was an absolute genius. Brian Lara for me, just… he smoked it to all parts.”

An interesting name as his third choice

The third name was an interesting pick by Donald. Michael Atherton was a great player but his name usually does not find mention as the greatest batters of his era. However, when it comes to a duel with Allan Donald, Michael Atherton always gave a tough fight.

Regarding this, the fast bowler revealed, “The best bit of cricket that I ever played against was Michael Atherton in Nottingham sort of in the late afternoon. I realised that maybe it was the right time now to ask for the ball and Hansie was happy for me to come and have a crack. So the first ball I bowled over the wicket, came out sweetly, it had a nice shape on it. The ball was fairly oldish then. I came round the wicket and the very first ball I bowled to him, he gloved it and Mark Boucher took a great catch. But then I looked at the slip cordon’s reaction and realised that it was not out. I walked back and there were boos and all sorts of things going on.”

Well, the inputs and a lot of interesting facts talked about by Allan Donald were extremely engaging for the fans. Hopefully, more cricketers will come on this Podcast in the coming months.