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USUALLY it is batsmen who do the ducking and diving when Allan Donald is around. On Wednesday, though, it was the great fast bowler who was taking evasive action as he tried to talk his way out of a storm caused by his about-to-be-published autobiography.

The headlines in the mass circulation Daily Express, highlighting his fall-out with West Indian star Brian Lara, hit Donald between the eyes with the same impact as a cricket ball delivered by the man whose nickname, White Lightning, has become the title of his book. ``I'm very disappointed with the way it came out,'' said Donald in Hove, where he is practising with South Africa's World Cup team.

Donald said the newspaper serialisation was a ``spiced-up'' version of what will appear when the book is launched in London on Monday. He said angry comments about Lara, including an incident where he told Lara to ``f . . . off'' from the South African dressing room at the end of the recent Test series in South Africa, had been taken from an early draft of the book.

``What will finally appear is a ripple on the water,'' said Donald. It was clear, though, that Donald was not entirely sure what is about to be published under his name.

Colin Bateman, the journalist who adapted the book for serialisation in the Daily Express, said his extracts had been cleared by the publishers Collins Willow.According to Donald, he told ghost writer Pat Murphy to ``tone down'' his description of the Lara incidents. ``I was very hyped up when I wrote it,'' said Donald, ``but when I looked at the proofs in New Zealand I thought, this is over the top.''

Murphy confirmed that some changes had been made but it seems unlikely what will appear in the book will differ markedly from what was published in the Daily Express.It seemed a classic and far from uncommon tale of a sportsman keen to cash in on a book who leaves the details to a professional writer and then starts to sweat when he sees his words in print.

In the published extract, Donald lashes out at West Indian captain Lara, saying he lost respect for his former Warwickshire county teammate as a captain during last summer's tour when South Africa trounced the West Indies in all five Test matches.Donald accuses Lara of failing to provide West Indies with the strong leadership they needed. According to Donald, Lara ``seemed to spend more time playing golf than being with his squad''.

A row between the two star players flared up at the end of the series when Donald asked Lara for a pair of batting gloves to auction during Donald's benefit year.''He just shook his head without saying a word. I was hurt and asked again and he said ‘no' very sharply. I told him he needs to learn to speak to people with some courtesy and told him to ‘f... off out of our dressing room'.''

Lara later gave Donald a pair of gloves, but without saying a word.In another lively extract, Donald criticises English umpire Mervyn Kitchen, who he said had a ``shocker'' during last year's crucial fourth Test at Trent Bridge. Donald was fined half his match fee and banned from one Test match, suspended for a year, by Zimbabwe high court judge and international match referee Ahmed Ebrahim after a radio interview which followed the controversial match in which England beat South Africa. During the interview, Donald said Kitchen ``made a few shockers which swung the result.'' He went on to say: ``If you are not up to it, then get out of the game rather than cause yourself more damage.''

In his book, Donald writes that players have to share some of the blame for poor umpiring. ``We all adopt the attitude that the more you appeal the greater chance you have to get lucky. Every team is at it.''

Donald quotes skipper Hansie Cronje as telling the South African team during the Trent Bridge Test: ``These guys are under tremendous pressure. If it's close I want to hear appeals and I expect you to scream them.''

The fast bowler was surprised that Kitchen, ``who did have a shocker of a match,'' took all the criticism. Donald points out that it was New Zealand umpire Steve Dunne who have Mike Atherton not out in the same match when he was clearly caught off a glove.

Under the International Cricket Council's strict code of conduct, any criticism of umpires is outlawed, although South African manager Goolam Rajah said on Wednesday there was no suggestion of any renewed action to be taken. Although Donald was clearly distressed by the controversy, he was upbeat about his fitness. He has felt no after effects of the stomach muscle injury he suffered in New Zealand and plans to bowl a full ten overs under simulated match conditions on Thursday. If that goes without a hitch, he will play in South Africa's warm-up match against Sussex in Hove on Friday.

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