It's one of the most enduring images in cricket history — 10 Australian players celebrating, a 11th running in from short fine-leg, umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan proceeding to take off the bails, a bat lying away from the pitch and its desolate owner, Allan Donald, preparing to take off his helmet.
It's one of the most enduring images in cricket history — 10 Australian players celebrating, a 11th running in from short fine-leg, umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan proceeding to take off the bails, a bat lying away from the pitch and its desolate owner, Allan Donald, preparing to take off his helmet.
The climax of the 1999 World Cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa at Edgbaston — in case you forgot, it ended in a tie — is a moment of unrivalled triumph and disaster. As the Proteas prepare to take on India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here on Sunday, bowling coaching Allan Donald will hope to take another small step towards an unfulfilled dream. Yes, he hasn't been playing for years now, but the joy of guiding someone to glory is sometimes greater than doing it yourself.
After putting the boys through their paces for three-and-a-half hours on Friday, Donald said that "I just love World Cups". It's his sixth appearance at the quadrennial event — second time as a coach after four consecutive ones as a player.
"It's a wonderful atmosphere. They're just such amazing events to be in, the hype about the whole thing. You saw all the people sitting up her (overlooking the nets) at training watching the guys and outside the hotel," he said.
The 48-year-old, who terrorised batsmen for over a decade, conceded that Sunday's contest would be a "home game" for India. By doing so, he nicely put the onus on MS Dhoni & Co. to make it count.
"It is a home game for India. There's going up to 100,000 people here and there are going to be a lot of Indian supporters, so keeping the crowd quiet is going to be a big thing. It's a massive game: South Africa-India, MCG.
This is what we train for, this is why we play for our country, to play in big games like this. I'm really up for this."
Going by the nature of the pitches and the number of 300-plus scores already achieved in this World Cup, Donald said there is no such thing as an insurmountable target.
"Coming to Australia and New Zealand, these are some of the most pure wickets you'll get in the world," Donald said. "It's going to come down to the bowling skills at the end if you're chasing. And it's chaseable. (A target of) 320 or 330 is chaseable."
That South Africa haven't won a world title hurts Donald, but he's not in any mood to sulk.
"To not be able to walk away with a (World Cup) medal is a bit of a sour one, but I've got no regrets," said Donald. "Hopefully, this time around there is something waiting, but we are very patient about that process. It's just an awesome time to be around this team. I'm very privileged."
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