London: Former South African fast bowler, Allan Donald, has expressed interest in taking over the responsibility of being England’s new bowling coach after the departure of their bowling coach Ottis Gibson.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are looking for a replacement for Gibson, who resigned on Tuesday to become the new head coach of the West Indies. Donald, who had earlier spent four months in 2007 with the England team as a fast bowling coach, was an immediate contender for the position.

“It is an environment I really enjoyed being in, working with elite cricketers,” the 43-year-old said. “I’d be silly to not consider the position. I will obviously think it over but it is a great challenge for any coach. If I did make contact with the ECB at some stage, I’m sure that I would be throwing my name in the hat, absolutely. In 2007, my little boy went through a very tough time and I had to abort that. It would have been very foolish of me to go touring around the world when he was struggling at school and having health problems. At the moment, everything is fine and I think I am just about ready to get back into it full time.”

Former England fast bowlers Darren Gough, Phil DeFreitas and Steve Watkin are also being seen as possible candidates, as is former South African skipper Shaun Pollock.

Donald said that Gibson has left a strong legacy to whoever takes over from him. “You can see Ottis has been working very hard. He has got a lot of discipline and toughness amongst these guys,” he said.

“(James) Anderson has become a quality bowler, so has (Stuart) Broad. But not only is the bowling unit strong, the team itself becoming a solid one. I think there is no doubt they are destined for some big stuff to come,” he added.

Tagged with: Allan Donald, Darren Gough, England, London, Ottis Gibson, Shaun Pollock

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