The International Cricket Council's match referee Ahmed Ebrahim, a Zimbabwean high court judge, is expected to launch an investigation into suggestions by the South African fast bowler that Kitchen's errors at Trent Bridge affected the course of the game, won by England to square the series 1-1.

David Richards, the ICC's chief executive, said no decision about further action would be made until Ebrahim had been consulted. But S K Reddy, South Africa's tour manager, said he expected to hear from the match referee.

``I suppose he will be conducting an inquiry,'' said Reddy. ``We knew Donald was giving an interview but we didn't know what he would be saying.''

If Donald is held to be in breach of the game's code of conduct, he could be reprimanded, fined or even suspended - though Reddy wryly observed that such action was ``wishful thinking'' on the part of England supporters.

Ebrahim must first decide whether Donald's comments fall within his aegis since they were made during the Essex game at Chelmsford, not directly within the ICC's jurisdiction.

The code suggests, however, there is a case for the fast bowler to answer. It says: ``Players, umpires and team officials shall not make any public pronouncement or media comment which is detrimental, either to the game in general, or to a particular tour in which they are involved.''

While the referee's powers are confined ``to the precincts of the ground'' during Tests and one-day internationals, ``if the breach occurs during any stage of a tour . . . it shall be the duty of the referee to take any action he shall deem necessary.''

Donald may argue that he was doing nothing more than responding to the off-the-cuff remarks by Kitchen when he acknowledged that he may have made mistakes and questioned whether he ought to continue as an umpire.

But the words about ``playing with players' careers'' brought a fine of about £800 for Mark Ramprakash and a suspended Test ban when he made similar comments to Australian umpire Darrell Hair after being given out during the Lord's Test.

Donald had said that Kitchen ``had a couple of shockers that affected the course of the [Trent Bridge] Test. Like all umpires, he is dealing with people's careers when he is in the middle.

``He seemed very much under pressure to me, like we all are, and I suppose there comes a time when you decide you have had enough.

``One decision can swing a game and if you are not up to it, then get out of the game, rather than cause yourself more damage.''

There is little doubt that Donald is as keyed up for the coming deciding Test as he has ever been in an illustrious career. He describes it as the most important of his life.

``We can't afford to have a single negative thought in our minds and we have already had a team meeting to reinforce that point. I think the strongest team - allied to the greater belief in itself - will probably win.''

Donald said of his duel with Michael Atherton at Trent Bridge: ``It was the most intense 60 minutes I have experienced in a Test. Hansie Cronje asked me to give him five overs of all my worth, and I did. Atherton and myself exchanged words and looks. It was as hard as it gets. But he survived it - somehow.''

Ticket sales for Headingley have passed the £1 million mark. Yorkshire have sold more than £200,000 worth of tickets in the past seven days, following England's eight-wicket win at Trent Bridge last week which levelled the series at 1-1.

There are still seats available for the first four days of the match, which starts on Thursday, with Sunday tickets guaranteeing free admission on Monday.