On Monday, Cricket South Africa announced that the team head coach Mark Boucher will step down from his role after the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia, starting from October 16.
On Monday, Cricket South Africa announced that the team head coach Mark Boucher will step down from his role after the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia, starting from October 16.
Boucher has held the position since December 2019 and drove the Proteas to 11 Test wins, including a memorable 2-1 series win against India at home in January.
“Mr. Boucher has decided to resign to pursue other opportunities in line with his future career and personal objectives,”
CSA said in a statement.
“While Cricket SA greatly regrets that Mr. Boucher is unable to see out the term of his contract, it respects his decision and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.”
The Proteas are also number two on the ICC World Test Championship table. In the limited-overs format, Boucher has helped South Africa claim 12 ODI wins, and 23 T20 International victories, the latest being a notable 2-1 series win against England.
His last series in charge will be a white-ball tour of India from September 28 to October 11 before heading to the T20 World Cup in Australia, where South Africa is grouped with Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
CSA Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki said:
“We would like to thank Mark for the time and effort he has invested in South African cricket as the head coach over the past three years.
“He has helped navigate us through some rough waters following the departures of so many senior players through retirement and has helped lay some strong foundations for the next generation of Proteas.
“We are extremely grateful to him for the work he has done and would like to wish him well with the next chapter of his career.”
Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe added:
“We are deeply saddened by Mark’s decision to leave us but we also understand and respect his wishes. He is a Proteas legend and has done so much for the game in our country, both on the field and over the last three years off it, which we highly appreciate.
“He has built a sound platform for South Africa to flourish in all three formats and I’m sure we will see the results of that at the T20 World Cup next month. He has a settled squad already, one that is growing in confidence, and we look forward to watching them in their important series in India before they head to Australia.”
CSA said it will in due course announce a successor to Boucher.
T20 World Cup squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rillee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.