‘Not gonna rock that boat’ - Donald sides with Fizz

Mustafizur Rahman has dominated discussion ahead of the Sri Lanka Tests despite having revealed that he was not keen on playing Tests in order to manage his workload. Plenty has been said with BCB president and team director Khaled Mahmud weighing in about where they stand regarding Fizz's decision.

Pace bowling coach Alan Donald was not against Fizz appearing in Tests but he said he understood the left-arm pacer's line of thinking. "I am a massive fan of the Fizz. I think he is a wonderful white-ball bowler," Donald said about Fizz.

"I am a massive fan of the Fizz. I think he is a wonderful white-ball bowler,"

Allan Donald

Pressed on whether he would like to see Fizz in Tests, Donald said he would. "I guess so. That's the individual's choice. Maybe that's something we can talk about with Mustafiz. That's a personal thing. When I first saw Andre Russell play for us in the Knights, I thought this guy is the best cricketer in the world. He bowled at 150kph, and smoke balls 110m across the fence. His body wasn't quite made for Test cricket, so he opted to take the shorter route. It is a personal choice, so I am not going to rock that boat.

With franchise cricket now dictating decisions of many national team players overseas, Donald saw the difficulty of the team management in terms of having players available for national assignment.

"It is always going to be a tough test. Players opting to go one way or the other way. I read that the new director of cricket in England is saying that once guys were ready for 12 months, and now nine months in a year. So where do you draw the line?"