Allan Donald, the great South African fast bowler, spoke to Colin Croft and South African journalist Neil Manthorp prior to the first Test match against the West Indies in Georgetown earlier this week.

Neil Manthorp: It seems that everyone thinks that South Africa would just roll over the West Indies? Is it that easy?

Allan Donald: I said before we left South Africa that if anyone thinks that we were coming out here, for a "roll", as you put it, they are sadly mistaken. I cannot see that happening. This is going to be probably one of the hardest tours that I will have experienced, considering that we are going to play five Test matches almost in a row, without much rest. Believe me, the West Indies have been no push-overs in their own back-yard. By the look of the wickets that we have already seen, in the one game we played and the ones we practise on, it is going to be very hard work. Roland Holder, the former West Indian batsman, told me in Barbados that he thought that under no circumstances would it be an easy task. The pitches are so flat. We found out how hard work it would be in the three-day game we played.

NM: Why is it that the West Indies results have been so poor recently?

AD: They do have some class, though, in their team. We cannot bank on the fact that they have had a poor series in Australia. They are back in front of their home crowds, on their pitches and conditions. It is us that will have to adapt to that completely. It gave a bit of a wake-up call in the three-day game we played to know that. It is not going to be so rosy. Our expectancy level is high, but it will take very good skill to bowl batsmen out twice on these pitches.

NM: How are you doing? Are you fit and strong?

AD: I feel really good. I have had a hard month of fitness. I feel so much better for it. The way I hit the crease during that three-day game made me feel fantastic. The only problem that I had was that I struggled to find the right length. It was either too full or that "back of a length" became even more back of a length, as the ball actually skids on. The length we bowl on these wickets will be crucial. We will have to use much skill here.

NM: What about your duels with Brian Lara?

AD: I think that any fast bowler or any batsman have got certain bowlers, or vice versa, batsmen, that they want to take on. Every time Brian walks to the wicket, that is the time that you know that you have to be very aggressive with him. You must have the game planned well ahead of the actual game. Yes, I am looking forward to it again, but this is his territory, and their pitches, so the task could be harder.

NM: There is not much that you have not achieved. One, though, is playing a full Test series in the West Indies.

AD: This is a great way to culminate a career, even though there are a few years left in me. I would love to finish this chapter playing five Tests here. That will take a lot of effort, a lot of time to make sure that I stay on the field of play at all times. I am very determined to do that. When I left South Africa, I set my goal out to be the "Man of the Series" for South Africa. To do that, it will take a lot of hard work, but it would be nice to go away from here knowing that I have been a part of the team that conquered the West Indies in the Caribbean. That will take a hell of a lot of effort, from everyone.

Colin Croft: You have not played against some of the new guys in the team. Indeed, you may not have even seen them at all. How do you assess them. No real television coverage here as in South Africa or Australia to see them beforehand?

AD: We have some tapes from Australia, and we have been told about them. We shall simply learn as we go. We only arrived here and had two days to prepare, being put into the unknown. We simply will have to be on our guard and get used to seeing new faces and just try to work them out. It is new, it is different, but I and the rest of the guys have to just do it. That is the challenge of being here.

CC: You just had one three-day game and two days of practice for a Test game. Is that enough?

AD: Not really. We landed, next day straight to the nets, two days preparation for the three-day game, you cannot really say that was enough. it is feeling your way into the series. Time and form will come as the Test matches come about.

CC: You are the only South African survivor of that tremendous Test match in Barbados in 1992? How the hell did that happen?

AD: It felt like yesterday, Crofty, when two of the best fast bowlers, Curtly and Courtney, bowled out us in just about one session, for just 25 in the session. It feels like it happened yesterday. It is nice to be a part of a team that I am the elder statesman, so to speak, the only survivor of that game. This is the first time we have toured the Caribbean for five Tests, so it would also be nice to be a part of the squad that leaves knowing that we have conquered the West Indies in their own backyard, beating one of the toughest teams in cricket history at home. That is the challenge of touring the Caribbean. It is a bit of the unknown, but that is the challenge.

CC: Courtney Walsh is approaching 500 Test wickets, Curtly Ambrose has made over 400 Test wickets, and you yourself has just gotten over 300 Test wickets. How long again will we see you? Will you go for the 400 too?

AD: Everyday, including tomorrow, my heart will tell me if I really want it badly enough. I take it Test series by Test series now. If my heart says that I want to continue, and carry on to 400 and beyond, then I will. One could say that I have achieved everything that I may have set out to do, and what a South African fast bowler could achieve. It may not have been enough yet, but let us just see how things go little by little. I think that when Courtney gets the 500 mark, I would be the first to shake his hand, as it would be a truly tremendous effort, and a great challenge for other bowlers around the world.

CC: What is your real position in the team, elder statesman, mentor, what is your presence in the team?

AD: No one really has to tell me that I am one of the senior players, and motivators in the side. I know that I must lead from the front. If I do not have a good body language, or not bowling well, and I show that, then many of the other guys would feel let down. It is my job to get the youngsters up and ready for what they do. I have to do it also for the captain. As the oldest guy, I am 34, though it is very young, I see myself in that role. Not only am I a strike bowler, but there are a lot of other things I must contribute too.

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