Allan Donald
Donald says there is no room for error in the Champions Trophy Reuters

South Africa legend and current bowling consultant for Sri Lanka, Allan Donald believes one mistake can get a team knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy.

The eight nation tournament hosted by England and Wales will commence from 1 June to 18 June next month as reigning champions India will defend their crown.

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Sri Lanka, ranked sixth in the One Day International (ODI) rankings, have only won four of their last 12 series since November 2014, with an intense training schedule prepared ahead of the event.

The Lions will arrive in England two weeks before the tournament begins and have arranged two warm-up games against Scotland.

They have also hired bowling great Donald, the first South African to take 300 wickets in test cricket, to prepare the Sri Lankan bowlers with hopes of a good performance in England.

With a tough group that includes India, Pakistan and the current best team in ODIs, South Africa, Donald spoke about how tough the tournament will be.

"This tournament is brutal," Donald said, as quoted on CricBuzz. "If you do one mistake, you are closer to getting knocked out of the competition."

"It's a tough tournament. We are in a tough group as well. There is very little breathing space and mistakes can be costly. We have to come up with a strategy and first we will plan against South Africa and then we will think about India and Pakistan."

Working with Sri Lanka will be Donald's fifth international assignment since retiring from the sport in 2003. Fellow South African and head coach of Sri Lanka's cricket team, Graham Ford believes the 50-year-old's experience will be vital.

"I must say that our bowlers are very fortunate," Ford explained. "We have some great fast bowling coaches. Now it's up to Allan to add his expertise and impart that extra bit of knowledge. His presence will be a huge advantage. He is an exciting addition to our set up."

"If you are going to be effective in ODI cricket, it is important to start thing well and finish things well. These are stuff with which Allan was an expert and hopefully he can impart some knowledge to our guys."

Sri Lanka cricket