As Alan Donald, rightly has his consultancy role extended with England, Paul Collingwood was quick to sing his praises after their victory over the West Indies on Sunday. Cricket betting fans will be thrilled to place their bets on the possibilities of betting on English victories and results coming from the bowlers’ as well as the batsmen’s efforts.

Alan Donald has always been a man who tells things as they are, and I’m sure there will have been some straight talking to the England bowlers between the Twenty20 matches last week and Sundays’ win. On Sunday I think we saw the second string English bowlers hit the deck and get it in the right place. James Anderson was always up around the 88mph mark and shaping the ball away from the left hander, back into the right hander. It was great to see because you never really felt as though Anderson has been at his best since he first came on the scene.

It was interesting that after the match, Anderson himself commented on Alan Donald’s influencing him to “hold his action” a little longer at the crease. These simple hints are what make the difference, and having been a fan of Alan Donald in his playing days, his own uncluttered bowling action was testament to how keeping things simple works.

I blogged about Alan Donald just after it was first announced that he was to take on the role with England and I will back him to add to his current success by the time we come t the Twenty20 world cup.