South Africa's bowling coach Allan Donald has said that it is not an easy job to be the bowling coach of the South Africa cricket team as it requires continuous hard work.

Donald's comments came in the wake of suggestions that it must be an "easy task for him as a bowling coach" as the Proteas' home performance against Sri Lanka last week and the Australians before that had been great.

South Africa bowled out Sri Lanka twice within three days at Centurion last week in their first Test of the three-match series to win by an innings and 81 runs.

While last month they bundled out Australia for a mere 47 runs in Cape Town.

"There is nothing easy about this work," Donald told the Afrikaans daily Beeld, adding that he would not take anything for granted.

"You have to keep working at your abilities and the most important thing is to have the right approach. That is what ensures our success here."That approach comes from net practice sessions and is something that we want to drive home to the players," he added.

Donald was also all praise for the rising star Vernon Philander, who became the first South African and only the fourth player in Test cricket to take five wickets four times in his first three Test appearances.

"Vernon is a bowler of high quality. He honed his skills in a hard way and is an intelligent bowler who took to heart the lessons he has leant over the years," said Donald.

"After a not so successful T20 World Cup in 2007, (Philander) worked hard on his shortcomings. He sharpened his skills in domestic cricket. This success must however not be taken for granted. It's now that I must let him understand why he is successful. This is important because there will be lean times as well," he added.