{"id":57268,"date":"2023-11-29T18:12:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T18:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions"},"modified":"2023-11-29T18:44:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T18:44:28","slug":"donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions","title":{"rendered":"Donald excited at opportunity to work with young talent Maphaka at Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Allan Donald was already missing his grandchild and home in general, so the prospect of returning to South Africa and working with the DP World (Central Gauteng) Lions was enticing enough, and then he saw Kwena Maphaka up close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just so natural, a natural athlete with natural rhythm and he\u2019s so strong. What an impressive young kid,\u201d Donald said.That was Monday, Donald\u2019s first session in his new job as the Lions\u2019 bowling coach. On Tuesday, in his second training session with the Lions, Donald got to study Maphaka more closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always said I would have loved to be a left-arm quick. They seem to make it look so easy. He\u2019s got the pace already and he swings it late. His ceiling is so incredibly high.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with Maphaka has put a smile on Donald\u2019s face, which had disappeared over the course of what Donald described as a \u201cfrustrating\u201d World Cup campaign with Bangladesh. Donald was part of the Tigers’ coaching staff, but admitted the \u201ctimed out\u201d incident involving Shakib Al-Hasan and Sri Lanka\u2019s Angelo Mathews had left a \u201csour taste\u201d.That incident came on the back of a number of bizarre selections, which, along with challenging communication between coaches and administrators and him missing family, pushed the 57-year-old to accept an offer to return to work in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Donald, who played 72 Tests for the Proteas and took 330 wickets, adds more gravitas to what was already a high-powered coaching team at the Wanderers, where Russel Domingo is head coach, Hashim Amla is batting coach and Prasanna Agoram the technical analyst.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to be back working with Russ again,\u201d Donald said.<\/p>\n

The pair had worked together when Domingo was Bangladesh\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so calm and collected and brings no stress into a dressing room. He builds solid relationships with players and does not try to be a smart-arse,\u201d Donald said of the former Proteas coach.<\/p>\n

Given Donald\u2019s own laid back nature and Amla\u2019s chilled outlook, it appears the Lions’ coaching structure is embracing Zen-ness.\u201cThere is a time and place to fire people up,\u201d said Donald, \u201cit\u2019s about choosing the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he acknowledges his time working with Bangladesh\u2019s bowlers was enjoyable, Donald also admitted being home and coaching young talents like Maphaka and rekindling ties with Kagiso Rabada \u2014 who he oversaw when he was briefly Proteas bowling coach \u2014 is exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a balance to be struck. Obviously you want to direct a young player onto the right path, but you are also aware you must listen to them. I want to know what [Maphaka\u2019s] expectations are.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s similar to when I worked with Gerald Coetzee. These guys are obviously ambitious and sometimes your role as coach is to remind them not to worry about why they\u2019re not being picked by the Proteas, [that] no-one has a right to be selected, but to focus on what they have to do right in front of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Gerald it was performing for the Knights and for Kwena it will be the same for the Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also don\u2019t want to overwhelm a young player like that with too much information. You want to let him be him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maphaka may be included in the Lions squad for their four-day match against the Warriors that starts in Gqeberha on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Donald\u2019s role will extend beyond the senior men\u2019s team to the under-19s and throughout the province and the rest of the development pipeline.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Allan Donald was already missing his grandchild and home in general, so the prospect of returning to South Africa and working with the DP World (Central Gauteng) Lions was enticing enough, and then he saw Kwena Maphaka up close. \u201cHe\u2019s just so natural, a natural athlete with natural rhythm and he\u2019s so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-57268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nDonald excited at opportunity to work with young talent Maphaka at Lions - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Allan Donald was already missing his grandchild and home in general, so the prospect of returning to South Africa and wo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Donald excited at opportunity to work with young talent Maphaka at Lions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Allan Donald was already missing his grandchild and home in general, so the prospect of returning to South Africa and wo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-29T18:12:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-29T18:44:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1701270826.130368.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Donald excited at opportunity to work with young talent Maphaka at Lions\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-29T18:12:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-29T18:44:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\"},\"wordCount\":620,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1701270826.130368.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/donald-excited-at-opportunity-to-work-with-young-talent-maphaka-at-lions\",\"name\":\"Donald excited at opportunity to work with young talent Maphaka at Lions - 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