The fast bowling legend Allan Donald believes that South Africa should have been hosting more Test matches for a long time, as the country prepares to host Australia, Bangladesh, and England as part of a major summer season.
At an event marking the start of the South African Cricket (CSA) domestic season in Johannesburg on Thursday, Donald told IOL that he was pleased to see such a number of upcoming Test matches. He noted that it has been unprecedented recently for the Proteas to play as many Test matches as the 'Big Three'. The presence of Australia, Bangladesh, and the extensive tour by England is a huge event.
Despite South Africa holding one of the top two spots in the World Test Championship (WTC) rankings, which positions the team well for a final appearance, they have played the fewest matches among all teams in the current nine-nation cycle.
Nevertheless, the Proteas managed to utilize their played matches effectively, securing three wins out of four, which provided an impressive win percentage of 75%. Australia leads the table, having won eight out of ten of its matches, achieving an 80% rate.
At the opposite end of the workload spectrum, England, ranked seventh, and the West Indies, ranked eighth, participated in the most games, playing 14 and 12 matches respectively.
This packed schedule of Test matches is only part of an unusual period for South Africa, which is also preparing to co-host the 50-over Cricket World Cup with Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Donald added that he looks forward to this period, calling it a 'magnificent summer' for the team, not to mention the upcoming World Cup next year. He emphasized that it will be one of the longest summers both domestically and internationally, and he is very happy about it.