Donald and SA really up to playing at the ‘G

2015 World Cup

Cricket365
February 21, 2015

South Africa's bowling coach Allan Donald has urged the players from his team to embrace the occasion when they line up against India in a Pool B World Cup clash at the MCG on Sunday.

With a crowd of about 90 000, mostly Indian fans, expected to pack into the huge ground, the atmosphere could become intimidating for players that do not often play in front of massive audiences.

Donald however feels that every player dreams of playing at such a venue, that the locals refer to as the 'G', and is probably the main reason why you aspire to play for your country.

With the final of the global tournament scheduled for the MCG on the 29 March, Donald says the Proteas are not looking to far ahead and are just concentrating on one match at a time.

Donald said: "It's a massive game . . . this is what we train for, this is why we play for our country, to play in big games like this. I'm really, really up for this.

"It [MCG] is an intimidating place. You just have to walk out there, [even when] these stands are empty it's an intimidating place – full stop. We're not looking one game ahead of this game . . . if [the finals draw] brings us back here that's great.

"It means we've played cricket out of our socks to get back here. But we're concentrating on Sunday. That really is all that matters."

Meanwhile, Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn has been passed fit to play on Sunday having recovered from a bout of flu.