Donald has been very impressed with the performance of the South African pace attack over the past couple of months

South Africa bowling coach Allan Donald has revealed that he believes the current Proteas pace attack, which includes the likes of Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, is the best he has ever seen.

During his international career, Donald and his pace bowling partner Shaun Pollock would rip through batting lineups at ease, but he admitted that the current attack was of a different and much higher class.

“I would have to say that, yes, I’m not just saying that, because I was part of an attack with Shaun Pollock and myself and a few others, and I say that humbly and respectfully, I think this is as good as it gets,” Donald said.

After being England 2-0 in the Test series over the summer and being crowned as the world number one Test team, South Africa are looking to continue their dominant streak by defeating Australia in their backyard.

Donald noted that South Africa should be able to get the job done, so long as the pace bowlers continue to attack the batsmen as a pack.

“They’ve been bowling together for quite some time, momentum’s been built over the past couple of years, consistency in selection and it’s nice to have a group of guys that know what they’re about,” Donald added.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur, who is a South African himself, admitted that the top order batsmen were going to be facing a “baptism of fire”.

“It’s going to be about the batters, it is going to be about which top six can adapt better, which top six is going to be more consistent over the three Test series. I think both top sixes are in for a real baptism of fire,” Arthur said.