Allan Donald waxes lyrical about Wiaan Mulder’s declaration
Proteas legend Allan Donald praised Wiaan Mulder’s (pictured) decision to declare South Africa’s innings on 626/5, highlighting Mulder’s sportsmanship and respect for Brian Lara’s record despite having the chance to break the record.Picture: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
While Wiaan Mulder’s declaration with the highest individual score in Test cricket firmly in sight has divided opinion, Proteas legend Allan Donald has hailed the conduct of the stand-in skipper.
Mulder, filling in as captain, declared South Africa’s innings on 626/5 in the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo earlier this week.
Mulder himself had bludgeoned his way to 367 from 334 balls. His epic innings meant he had already reached the fifth highest score in the format.
Brian Lara’s record of 400 not out was certainly in reach, but Mulder decided instead to ‘put the team’ first and send in Zimbabwe as they chased the win.
South Africa’s Victory and Mulder’s Tribute to Brian Lara
As it turned out, South Africa romped to victory on day three, meaning getting those extra runs in the first innings would not have changed the result.
“First things first, I thought we’d got enough and needed to bowl. And, secondly, Brian Lara is a legend, let’s be real. He got 400 against England … For someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special,” said Mulder afterwards.
Donald was blown away by the approach of Mulder.
“His words were amazing, and that just typifies what a human being he is. Whether he decided it’s the right time to declare… I don’t know whether he was aware of the world record,” Donald told CricBlog in an exclusive interview.
“I’m pretty sure that he did. Whether Brian Lara knew or kept an eye on that is another thing, but for him to say that space belongs to Brian Lara and how he looks up to him as a cricketer vs. cricketer…. or ex-cricketer…. it just typifies what Wiaan Mulder stands for.”
It wasn’t long ago that Mulder’s place at number three in the batting lineup was questioned, but Donald believed he’d already shown enough to indicate he could handle his spot in the top order.
"I think at some point.... he will, against the bigger teams.... wouldn't say he's going to break world records like that against class, real class bowling attacks, but he will get hundreds."