As an injured Allan Donald arrives in South Africa, today to seek the opinion of a Pretoria orthopaedic specialist about an ankle injury which throws into doubt his long-term Test career, the national selectors also seem to be sending out the wrong signals to the country's left-arm fast bowlers.

Donald admitted before he left Birmingham in England yesterday that he was uncertain whether he would be fit for the series against England. He certainly will not be available for either of the Tests against Zimbabwe at the end of next month in Bloemfontein or Harare in mid-November.

He confirmed the consultation with the Pretoria specialist who has operated on three other Test fast bowlers, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and David Terbrugge, would be held later today. If the specialist feels the ankle operation is necessary recovery could take anything between 10 weeks to three months.

Klusener, injured during South Africa's tour of England last year, missed almost half of last season and was only passed fit to resume his Test career when the five-match series against the West Indies reached Centurion back in January. Terbrugge, out since January, is still in the recovery process and may only be ready to play again when the first-class season starts on October 7.

Donald was hopeful and said it was too soon to "write me out of the series against England" which suggests the man known as White Lightning is optimistic. "I know if I do have the operation the recovery time will be a long one, but it does not mean I'll miss the series (against England). I'm really optimistic it can get it sorted out," he confirmed, saying the injury began to trouble him during the World Cup Super Six stages in June. Although he had it strapped, the problem cropped up again on Friday at Durham's Riverside venue in Chester-le-Street in what was his second County Championship appearance of the season for Warwickshire.

South Africa's new coach Graham Ford was not available for comment during the weekend. Then again the national selectors, headed by the new convener, Rushdie Majiet, were not available either to comment on their decision to omit left-arm fast bowlers from the coastal and inland national training squads for camps to be held in early October. Yet one of the complaints of the last year was there was a need to uncover left-arm fast bowlers.

Neither Charl Willoughby (Boland) nor Greg Smith (Northerns) have been included in either camp. Smith was a late inclusion in the South Africa President's XI to play England A at Newlands while Willoughby, it had been reliably claimed, was placed on stand by for one of the Tests against the West Indies.

The two Northerns players in the inland squad are David Townsend, at present in Madras with the Dennis Lillee clinic for fast bowlers, and Martin van Jaarsveld. Surprisingly they have given Deon Kruis a run in the Bloemfontein camp; whether this is a reward for his efforts last season for Griqualand West, or is a way to cut costs, has not been explained. But it does leave a question mark against the selectors views of the value of left-arm fast bowlers in the first-class game.