Donald wants to put the record straight

Veteran fast bowler Allan Donald knows that he has only one last chance to win a Test series against Australia. And he knows that this time around the odds are stacked even more heavily against South Africa who have to try and overturn a 3-0 thrashing suffered at the hands of Steve Waugh's side earlier this year.

The first Test match starts at the Wanderers on Friday, and Donald believes that it's time for South Africa's senior players to stand up and be counted.

"We've got the challenge to rectify what happened in Australia," he said on Wednesday, "but self-belief is a difficult thing and we've got to get off to a really good start. To win here in front of this crowd, which is always electrifying, would be really nice.

"I'm a little bit disappointed in the way we lost. It was a bit too easy. I think that our guys have got the skill, but mentally we weren't all that ready. But we've got the chance to turn that around, and there's no better place to start than here."

For all that the Wanderers crowd will get behind the South Africans, it will come down to whether Donald and his team-mates can reach inside themselves and find the reserves that were so obviously missing in Australia.

"I think we need 11 guys out there playing for each other. I wouldn't say that was the case in Australia. The senior players have got to stand up and be counted," he said.

Donald singled out Australia's opening pair as the first obstacle the South Africans have to overcome.

"They (Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer) broke our back from a bowling point of view. They gave them really good starts like 200 for none or 200 for one. If we can get into them early on and target their middle order, I think we're in with a good chance," he said.

"But we're going to have to bowl well. We're going to have to bowl with a lot more discipline and a lot more patience. That's something we didn't have in Australia - patience.

"We know that Australia want to score at three an over and we want to knock that back and break that opening partnership as quickly as we can.

I" believe that Hayden and Langer have got their faults as well. We're going to talk about that over the next couple of days. Test match cricket is a battle of mental and physical strength.

Certainly, Donald doesn't want to wind down an illustrious Test career with another pummeling at the hands of South Africa's fiercest rivals.

"It was the first time that I've ever been in that position where we've been nailed badly. To pick people up from that is very difficult, but we've got an opportunity now and we've got to believe in ourselves that we can beat Australia."