LONDON, Aug 17 (IANS): South African bowling great Allan Donald, now his country�s bowling coach, is confident of toppling England from the No.1 Test spot.
Donald was England�s fast bowling coach four years ago for a brief period before returning to county cricket with Warwickshire. Donald almost came close to becoming England�s bowling coach once again last year, but lost the race to Australian David Saker.
Donald, who was New Zealand�s bowling coach during the World Cup, is now in charge of is team after his former team-mate Gary Kirsten took over as the chief coach.
He is now looking forward to the three-Test series next year against England.
�It is going to be a huge one for us. We always weigh ourselves against England and Australia and next year�s series is going to have more on it with England going number one in the rankings,� Donald was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
�Neither side will hold back or take a backwards step so it promises to be a fantastic series. England at home will have lots to prove and we have a fantastic record in England. Having got to number one in the world, England�s next challenge is to stay there, but it also means that they are there to be toppled. For other sides it means that when you get a sniff of beating England you have to grasp it,� he said.
Donald credited Andy Flower, who was the batting coach during the South African�s stint with the English team, for making England a ruthless team since being appointed as the team director.
�I have a serious amount of respect for Andy Flower. He has brought hardness and a real mental toughness to the team. He�s proud of his players and he instils such belief in his team. Under him England have won the World Twenty20, retained the Ashes and now got to number one in the world. He has made them a difficult team to beat,� said Donald. Donald said one of the main reasons for England�s success is that they have such a well-balanced attack.
�Broad, Anderson, Bresnan and Tremlett - these guys are making a serious impact. But England also have depth to their resources. Steven Finn can�t get in the side at the moment and Graham Onions hasn�t played yet. When you�ve got bowlers like that with Test experience in your second- string attack, it�s not such a big step up for them to make if they are called up to replace the first-choice players,� he said.
