24 Feb 2016 | Cricket
Fresh from his Junior World Cup exploits and a winter's hard training in the Australian sun with the Darren Lehman Academy in Adelaide, Glamorgan and England's under-19 starlet Aneurin Donald talks about 'that shot' and his personal targets for the season ahead.
Nye, you've had quite a winter with the Darren Lehman Academy and the Under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh with England, do you feel like you are a better player at the end of it all?
Absolutely, the amount of training I've done, I think I'd feel quite hard done by if I came back here and didn't feel a better player.
I feel in really good nick and I'm excited about the season ahead. It's the best prep I could have possibly done really, so I'm really excited to get the season underway
Regarding the World Cup, you didn't get as many chances to shine as you would have liked?
No unfortunately not, it was a little bit frustrating as I was feeling in good nick having been on the Lehman Academy in Adelaide so I came off the back of that feeling good.
I had a couple of opportunities that I didn't quite take myself, so I've only got myself to blame with that.
Overall as a team we underperformed a little bit. Obviously there was a good win against the eventual World Cup winners, which is always nice, but there's no excuse for going out in the quarters when we were one of the stronger sides in the comp. We just didn't quite turn up on the day unfortunately.
Is it difficult to get yourself in straight away when you've not had much warm-up innings for a competition like that?
A little bit, obviously you'd rather have more games than not. I came in towards the latter end of the games, so it's about being selfless and trying to push the scoring rate on for the team.
I was pretty happy with how I played. Obviously it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but that's the way it is.
You did come up with one of the shots of the tournament that went viral on social media, tell us about it…
There's not much to say, it just took off, I think everyone got around it on the social media platforms.
It's nice to do something memorable. I would have liked to have been remembered for more my runs on the pitch than just one shot, but it's nice to get out on social media and make a few people laugh!
Is it possible to describe what you did?
I'm not sure, I couldn't tell you what I did at the time anyway, it just sort of happened.
It was a mixture of interesting ball and me getting in an interesting position. Most of the time I was worried about it going straight up in the air and being left looking like an idiot, but it came off and then ICC got hold of it and it went from there
It basically went up and over your head and down to long stop or somewhere round there…
… I'm not sure how it got there either but there we go.
Have you got a name for it yet?
I'm not sure I'm ever going to play it again. If I play it again I'll come up with a name for it, but I'm still working on that for the minute
What about your spell in Australia, it sounded pretty hectic?
We trained very hard, Monday to Friday with the Lehman Academy and up to two times training with the club side and possibly Saturday, Sunday match as well so it was pretty full on, but it was the place to be if I wanted to become the best cricketer I could of.
It was exactly what I wanted to do, from going out to Australia and becoming a better cricketer and better person, then it was definitely the place to be, so I really enjoyed it and I'm thankful for my time there.
Did you get some sledging being a Brit down under?
Of course, it wouldn't be right otherwise, but it's all character building.
How did you get on in terms of runs in club cricket?
I did ok, I got plenty of starts, it was quite different sort of style of cricket, so it was about adjusting to that, so I did ok, not as well as I would have liked, I would have wanted a few more big scores, but I got some decent scores quite regularly so not too unhappy.
I think it was more about coming back home with peace of mind and being clear in my game, at ease with what I wanted to do with the season ahead, so I'm pleased with that
You are back now for pre-season in the chill of Britain and warmth of Spain
We're really looking forward to the Spain trip; I'll be racking up even more air miles, so it should be a good trip.
Then its onto the preseason friendlies, everyone will be looking to stake a claim for a place in the first team at the start of the season, but you really have to hit the ground running don't you?
Ye exactly, there's obviously a bit more pressure on for places with a couple of new signings which is only good.
It's about if you are lucky enough to get a chance, in the pre-season even, try and nail it and get yourself a bit of form and try to get in the team for the first game of the season first of all that's the most important thing. On a personal level you want to try and spend a bit of time out in the middle as a batter, that's the main target.
And your personal targets for the season? How confident are you of getting a regular place in the side this year?
I'm very confident personally. Hopefully I get the opportunity but it's down to me to get runs.
The first target is ticking off getting a first-class hundred. I came quite close at the end of year and that's quite frustrating.
Then after that, it's about becoming a first team regular and contributing in all formats. I think that's one of my strengths I can play T20 game and a first class and I float between all the formats quite well so I really want to target becoming a first team regular and getting a gig and just waiting for my opportunities and taking them when they come really
Is it easier to concentrate this year without having the school work in the background?
Just a little bit. It's been a much better winter than my previous winters, being able to stand in the sun and get a tan rather than sit down in a classroom. But it's going to give me the best chance to become the best player possible so this is the main focus at the minute.
Are you going to do any college courses to keep your education up?
The focus is mainly on the cricket; I intend to do something else whether it's an Open University course or work experience. The PCA push quite hard all the sort of off the field stuff which is fantastic and my parents drill into me how important it is so I'm sure I won't be able to get away from it for too long.
The Glamorgan first team depart for their pre-season training camp in Spain next week, before playing the first of three home warm-up games on Good Friday against Gloucestershire at The SSE SWALEC. Entry is free for all for all three home friendlies.