Cape Town: Sreesanth’s excellent effort (five for 114) in the first innings, at Newlands, invited praise from three former new-ball bowlers of South Africa, as also one about to retire. The quartet spoke to The Telegraph on Monday afternoon.

The following are excerpts

Allan Donald: Sreesanth’s always had the talent, it’s just that he appeared to have distractions, too... Whenever we’ve had a chat, I’ve told him that the ability he has must be translated into wickets... He’s begun to do that... He’s got to remember that it’s up to him alone to realise his potential.

Donald took 330 wickets in Tests and 272 in ODIs.

Makhaya Ntini: Sreesanth’s a good bowler, but somebody needs to handle him... His aggression needs to be channelled in the right direction... He has the potential to get better... The sport has to have a Sreesanth.

Ntini will be finishing with 390 wickets in Tests and 266 in ODIs.

Shaun Pollock (former captain): Cricket needs to have characters and Sreesanth’s one of them... He’s been improving as the series has gone along... He wasn’t great in Centurion, but has gradually come into his own... He’d left a bigger impression in 2006-07, though.

Pollock took 421 wickets in Tests and 393 in ODIs.

Fanie de Villiers: Sreesanth’s world class and deserves to be among the top-three fast bowlers... I like his attitude, which is that of a bulldog... However, Sreesanth needs to do two things: Add at least 5 kmph to his speed and swing the ball from closer to off... At the moment, he’s swinging far too away... I had similar problems, but good advice sorted things out for me... Somebody should work with Sreesanth.

De Villiers took 85 wickets in Tests and 95 in ODIs.