The former South African fast-bowling great will take charge of reigningdomestic champions the Mountaineers for at least the forthcoming seasonwhich begins on September 6
Neil Manthorp12-Aug-2010Allan Donald has joined the rapidly growing list of formerinternationals heading to Zimbabwe to help with the country’s attempts torebuild its international reputation and push for a return to Test cricket.The former South African fast-bowling great will take charge of reigningdomestic champions the Mountaineers for at least the forthcoming seasonwhich begins on September 6.Donald has filled various roles as a bowling or assistant coach for FreeState, Warwickshire and England since his retirement from the game in 2003but has been frustrated in recent months by his inability to secure afull-time position. He held high hopes of landing the England bowling coachposition which was filled by Australian David Saker in April this year.”I have always wanted to move away from being a bowling specialist andbecome more of a head coach, and this is exactly the sort of opportunity I’vebeen looking for,” Donald told Cricinfo.”Quite a few jobs I’ve applied for have asked for ‘at least two or threeyears experience’ as a head coach. It’s the old chicken and egg story, howdo you get the job without the experience, and how do you get the experiencewithout a job! But now that’s behind me and I can’t wait to get started,”Donald said.Steve Mangongo, who coached the Mountaineers to both the four-day LoganCup and Faithwear Metbank 50-over titles last year has relinquished the postto concentrate on dual roles as national assistant to Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher and a supervisory position at the national academy.Donald joins former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie (MidwestRhinos) and former England batsman Monte Lynch (Southern Rocks) as coachin Zimbabwe’s domestic competitions while former Zimbabwean internationalsAlistair Campbell, Heath Streak, Grant Flower and Dave Houghton are allinvolved at national level.”We are still putting the finishing touches to the contract but Icertainly want to do it for more than one year,” Donald said. “I don’t thinkyou can prove too much in one season. And it’s exciting to be part ofZimbabwe cricket’s revival.”