Ken Borland

Allan Donald has seen a lot in a legendary career that has taken him all over the world, but he admitted to being blown away by the passion with which the youngsters he was coaching recently at the DP World Wanderers Stadium are chasing their cricket dreams.

DP World Lions bowling coach Donald, as well as the men’s team’s head coach Russell Domingo, conducted a coaching clinic as a reward for the winners of the best batter and bowler awards in each division of the Diadora Jozi Cup held over the winter. Donald said it was a most rewarding experience for himself as well.

“It was a lot of fun because it’s not every day that I get to work with youngsters. The passion for DP World Lions cricket was just extraordinary, the enthusiasm and love for the game. And also their knowledge of the game, they were all talking about their heroes.

“You tend to think that everything is about the Springboks these days, so it was refreshing and really cool to see that passion for cricket. It stems from the schools and it tells me how the schools look after their facilities and the level of coaching, including the pipeline coaches. It shows that we have a proper cricket culture in this province. There’s a lot more talent in our cricket than people think.

“I just really admire the work Jono Leaf-Wright [CEO] puts into the pipeline, he doesn’t get enough credit for it. Russell says the same thing, it’s a real eye-opener. I was stunned by the amount of leagues, blown away. I had heard about the Diadora Jozi Cup but it has really struck me how much effort the DP World Lions put into it, their heart and soul. And there’s also the Black Widow League.

“I haven’t seen this sort of well-run effort before and it’s a bit of a culture shock, in a good way of course,” Donald said.

Retaining all this talent in the great game is vital and Donald is mindful of how the different levels of cricket have different needs.

“It’s not often that I get to coach at this junior level, maybe 2% of the time, so you hope to influence them positively. Then again we even had one of the Over-40 winners batting in the nets!

“But with the little guys I stay away from technique because they won’t really understand those details until they are more senior. It’s just cool to see them enjoying themselves and it’s amazing how quickly they adopt what you are telling them. They must be allowed to fail; I was lucky I didn’t have parents or uncles or grandparents in my ear all the time when I was growing up.

“But it shows how healthy our school system is and hopefully they can get a lot more exposure, like schools rugby does on TV, that takes things to a different level. The problem with cricket is when the players leave school and go to Varsity, they get lost and despondent that they’re not being looked at. These players who are adrift in the system is why the academy was brought back,” Donald said.

Reuben Mandlazi, the DP World Lions amateur cricket manager, was a proud onlooker at the coaching session.

“This is testament to the work of the Diadora Jozi Cup, which caters for everyone from U11s to veterans. Cricket is our core business at the Lions, we have to ensure the game gets stronger and I’m excited where this is going – it is a feeder to our clubs and our pipeline. I’m very pleased, even though there is still a lot to improve on in certain areas.

“This is the first time we have had this MVP experience for the best batter and bowlers in each division, and any aspiring youngster could not ask for more than to be coached by Russell Domingo and Allan Donald. They understand what it takes to get to the top, they know what high-performance cricket takes,” Mandlazi said.

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Looking out over the Amatikulu Estuary, its confluence with the Nyoni and beyond that the Indian Ocean, one was struck by an enormous sense of tranquility as we enjoyed the scenery from the tented camp on the hill.

Twelve hours later, that tranquility had been replaced by what felt like a raging hurricane as we tried to pack up camp after our two nights at Amatikulu Nature Reserve. Situated so close to the coast, we were bombarded by squalls that raced up from the south, bringing howling wind and heavy rain.

While the weather had been against us in terms of birding, we still enjoyed a fabulous stay and were most impressed by Amatikulu.

My first sighting arriving after the long drive from Johannesburg to the reserve, situated about 100km north of Durban and just above the mouth of the Tugela River, was of a Vervet Monkey. Fortunately, Amatikulu is one of the few places that has well-behaved monkeys and they did not trouble our camp at all!

A Wild Plum was the centrepiece of the campsite and in the morning we were greeted by a flock of Blackbellied Starlings foraging in it.

Our first morning consisted of doing the lengthy forest trail over the next hill and down to the estuary. We quickly picked up a Bluegrey Flycatcher and soon we were admiring the idyllic dune forest and that wet smell that came from the rather swampy conditions after all the recent rain. A stream also runs through the forest and we were impressed by a large stand of trees with their roots in the stream, which reminded me of banyan trees in India. (I wish I knew trees better, these had long, straight trunks and big glossy leaves if anyone can help with identification!)

Another notable forest tree was Tabernaemontana ventricosa, the Forest Toad Tree, with its beautiful five-star, helix-shaped, creamy white flowers.

An Eastern Olive Sunbird was chip-chipping away in the higher foliage but we managed to track him down, while Thickbilled Weavers were down on the forest floor even though the breeding season was surely underway.

Down we went through the beautiful forest until we came out on the river bank, from where we walked a few hundred metres to where the Amatikulu reached the Nyoni. Sitting down for a bite to eat, we were joined on a little sandbank by a delightful little Sanderling, as well as Whitefronted Plover and Common Sandpiper.

Towards the other end of the estuary, peeking above a sandbank, we spotted the distinctive heads and bills of a few Whimbrel. As pleased as we were to see them, we decided against wading across to their side because the river looked fairly deep and there are crocodiles about!

This did not deter a couple of locals from their handfishing in the estuary, which just adds to the sense of stepping back into a time when the Natal coast was not just holiday resorts.

Heading back to the picnic site, we picked up White-Eared Barbet and then Squaretailed Drongo, Blackbacked Puffback and Forest Weaver were waiting for us back at camp.

The afternoon, interspersed with showers, was spent doing the 4×4 trail through the hilly coastal grassland with patches of forest and Lala Palms.

It was prime habitat for Croaking Cisticola and he was our first tick on the afternoon drive, quickly followed by Yellowthroated Longclaw. A Longcrested Eagle came zooming over and Yellow Weavers were busy in one of the trees along the route.

Spectacled Weaver was also around and, although the swampy area around the Nyoni Pan looked very promising, it didn’t provide anything unusual.

Redbilled Oxpeckers were on a female group of Greater Kudu and we finally tracked down Natal Robin just before sunset.

In between squalls on the final morning, a visit to the ablutions turned up a Pygmy Kingfisher sitting briefly on a branch right by the door.

It was a great way to end a trip which pretty much blew us away in both senses of the phrase!

Sightings list

Vervet Monkey

Plains Zebra

Blackbellied Starling

Bluegrey Flycatcher

Whitefronted Bee-Eater

Blackeyed Bulbul

Redshouldered Widow

Redcollared Widow

Eastern Olive Sunbird

Sombre Bulbul

Thickbilled Weaver

Collared Sunbird

Pied Kingfisher

Egyptian Goose

Reed Cormorant

Great White Egret

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Common Sandpiper

Whitefronted Plover

Sanderling

Whimbrel

Yellowbilled Duck

European Swallow

White-Eared Barbet

African Pied Wagtail

Squaretailed Drongo

Blackbacked Puffback

Forest Weaver

Croaking Cisticola

Yellowthroated Longclaw

Giraffe

Longcrested Eagle

Yellow Weaver

Little Bee-Eater

Spectacled Weaver

Common Moorhen

Grey Heron

African Jacana

Scarletchested Sunbird

Greater Kudu

Redbilled Oxpecker

Redeyed Dove

Natal Robin

Red Duiker

Pygmy Kingfisher