ECB target Donald as bowling coach

Kevin Shine was criticised for the performance of England's pacemen in Australia © Getty Images

The former South African fast bowler, Allan Donald, is being lined up as the England team's new bowling coach, after it was confirmed by the ECB that the current incumbent, Kevin Shine, would be reverting to an administrative role at the national academy in Loughborough.

Responding to an article in The Daily Telegraph, John Carr, the ECB's director of cricket, said: "When the board recruited Kevin in early 2006 it was always intended to be largely a Loughborough-based role leading the ECB fast bowling programme, which involves overseeing and managing the development of elite fast bowlers at senior and age group levels. It was on this basis that Kevin and his family relocated to the Loughborough area."

Shine was a full-time member of Duncan Fletcher's management team during the Ashes and World Cup, but he was significantly outshone by his predecessor in the role, Troy Cooley, who returned to his native Australia to help marshal a 5-0 Ashes whitewash and an unbeaten defence of the World Cup. The manner in which Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait came of age for their country was a testament to Cooley's achievements, and magnified the extent of Shine's failings.

"The board was grateful that Kevin agreed to serve in this role through to the end of the World Cup," said Carr. "Kevin had indicated at the start of the winter that at the end of the World Cup he wished to revert to the important role that he was originally recruited to perform. The ECB fast bowling programme cannot be delivered by any one person and involves working closely with the ECB fast bowling group and all county coaches." Shine has already enlisted the help of the former West Indian paceman Ottis Gibson and the Gloucestershire bowling coach, Stuart Barnes.

"Peter Moores and ECB have every confidence in Kevin Shine to lead the ECB fast bowling programme and to coach England's elite fast bowlers," added Carr. "Kevin will continue to be involved in the preparation of England fast bowlers around international matches as well as being involved in any decisions to utilise the services of other fast bowling coaches with England teams or in other parts of the fast bowling programme."

Donald, 40, was among the big names who applied for Shine's role when the job was advertised at the end of 2005. He has not been through the four-level ECB coaching qualification programme, but he has supervised Warwickshire's second XI, and is also involved with South Africa's high performance programme. With 330 wickets from 72 Tests and a further 272 in ODIs, he would bring a wealth of experience to Moores's new England set-up. Earlier this month, the former Zimbabwe captain, Andy Flower, was named as England's new batting coach, in place of Fletcher's former Glamorgan colleague, Matthew Maynard.