South Africa’s bowling coach returns home mid-way

South Africa’s bowling coach Allan Donald returned home from the tour of the UAE. Donald, who was appointed bowling coach in June 2011, left  on an “extended leave of absence” due to personal reasons, and team manager Moosajee said that they are not sure when he will return.Barnes, the former bowling coach who is now in charge of Cricket South Africa’s high-performance programme and is also a national selector, will take over.

Barnes’s approach is slightly different to Donald’s, whose emphasis is on aggression, but head coach Russell Domingo said there would be no changes to South Africa’s strategy.

With the spotlight on South Africa’s bowling, it’s easy to forget that their batsmen were the real culprits in the 1st Test at Abu Dhabi.

With Amla’s responsibilities elsewhere, South Africa have to prepare for a match as though they will go into it without him. Dean Elgar is likely to take his place, adding inexperience to the challenges South Africa will face.

The last time South Africa played without Donald as their bowling coach was in the third Test against New Zealand in Wellington in 2012, when Donald returned home in order to get a break before the IPL, where he was with the Pune Warriors. South Africa drew that Test with Morne Morkel the only bowler to pick up wickets on the final day.