Donald out of Kingsmead Test, Ngam will play

Just one day after being named in the South African squad for the first Castle Lager/MTN Test match against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead, champion fast bowler Allan Donald has withdrawn, opening the way for Mfuneko Ngam to win his second Test cap.

It is now believed that Donald requires a further two weeks to fully recover from a stomach muscle strain and it is not clear whether he will be available for the second Test which starts at Newlands on January 2.

This will be the fourth time in the past two weeks that Donald has failed to get onto the field after being named in a squad. He pulled out of the third Test against New Zealand at the Wanderers, with Ngam coming into the side to make his Test debut, and although he travelled with the one-day team for the first two matches against Sri Lanka in the Eastern Cape, he failed to play in either game.

Apparently Donald aggravated the injury while training in East London on Saturday, but it is not clear whether the team management was consulted by the selectors before the Kingsmead squad was named on Sunday.

Donald is South Africa's leading Test wicket taker, passing the 300 mark in the first Test against New Zealand in Bloemfontein. He now has now taken 308 Test wickets.

A twelfth man for the match has still to be named.