Former Proteas bowling coach Allan Donald says South Africa’s young fast bowlers must be properly managed if they want to have long, successful careers at the highest level.

In an interview with the ICC’s website, Donald spoke about the rise of 20-year-old Kagiso Rabada as well as the struggling career of all-rounder Wayne Parnell.

On Rabada, Donald said: ‘We need to be very careful. It looks to me if his career is destined to play for the Proteas for a long time without spending too much time in the first-class environment. So we need to balance that very carefully; and labelling players so quickly is also a dangerous thing.’

Donald also mentioned the 26-year-old Parnell, who has moved to the Cape Cobras in the off-season and is looking to resurrect his international career.

‘We quickly realised that he had a talent in the short format of the game and hasn’t played much first-class cricket,’ Donald said.

‘Now we’re looking for him to develop as a Test bowler. He’s got unbelievable talent, there’s no question about that, but he hasn’t played enough four-day cricket for him to come into that team.’

The current domestic season is a big one for Parnell as there is currently a fierce competition for places across all formats for the Proteas.