Donald missed Cronje on reaching milestone

Donald missed Cronje on reaching milestone
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

BLOEMFONTEIN, NOV 20: South African fast bowler Allan Donald has said he sorely missed having his sacked former captain Hansie Cronje on the field to congratulate him when he took his 300th Test wicket on Sunday.

``As it happened, my mind went straight to Hansie,'' The Citizen newspaper quoted Donald as saying.

``I felt it would have been great for him to have beent here at mid-off and almost felt like looking around to see him charging towards me,'' Donald said.

``Whenever we've reached milestones, broken partnerships and taken great wickets, he was always the first one there to congratulate me. I will certainly give him a ring ...''

Donald became the 15th cricketer in the world to take 300 Test wickets when he trapped New Zealand's Shayne O'Connor lbw in his and Cronje's hometown of Bloemfontein on Sunday.

Donald last week said Cronje had visited him before the Test to wish him luck, and insisted he would stay loyal to his former captain though he had been shocked when he heard about his involvement with bookmakers.

Cronje was sacked in April and has subsequently admitted taking thousands of dollars from gamblers and bookmakers on five separate occasions between 1996 and 2000.