Boucher ‘successor’ Tsolekile left out of team for England Test

THAMI Tsolekile has not been included in the SA Test squad to tour England next month despite the fact that the series is likely to be Mark Boucher’s international cricket swan song.

Cricket SA’s decision in February to contract Tsolekile seemed to confirm him as successor to Boucher, who has said he is likely to retire after the tour.

But Tsolekile’s name was not one of the 15 announced yesterday by selection convener Andrew Hudson.

“A reserve keeper is superfluous to what we need in the squad for England,” Hudson said.

“The fact is that AB de Villiers will be there and he will be on standby if anything happens to Boucher.”

Instead of the Test, Tsolekile will do duty for SA A in two four-day matches against their Sri Lankan counterparts in Durban starting on June 30, a one-day series in Harare that will also feature the Sri Lankans and Zimbabwe A, and a tour to Ireland that will coincide with the Proteas’ third Test against England as well as the first four of the five oneday internationals.

The latter series will afford the national team an entire squad of conveniently located, ready replacements, should they be required. “We would rather have Thami playing than sitting on the bench,” Hudson said.

He emphasised that Tsolekile had not lost his place at the top of the list to replace Boucher.

“Nothing has changed for Thami. He’s still under contract and he remains in contention.

“As selectors, we will need to make some calls before the Australia series (in November),” Hudson said.

Rebel-era SA wicketkeeper Ray Jennings could see where the selectors were coming from.

“If he goes to England with the Proteas he’s not going to play, and playing is probably more beneficial than sitting on the sidelines,” Jennings said.

“He’s not a 20-year-old who needs to learn his trade; he’s been around. So playing in the A side (for now) will be better for him.”

Jennings did not think Tsolekile’s confidence would be adversely affected by his not being selected.

“Thami is old enough to understand that by playing and performing, he is the next guy in line,” he said.

“If I were him, I would rather be playing because I know that Boucher is going to give up soon and that I need to make sure that position is mine after he goes,” Jennings said.

Did Jennings, who is close to Boucher, think the stalwart, who played his first Test 15 years ago, would make good on his stated intention to hang up his gloves in August?

“Boucher is a funny guy; you could always talk him out of it,” Jennings said. “But he has a lot of pride and I’m sure he wants to finish off on a high.

“He will probably look at his performance on the England tour before making a final decision.”

Widespread speculation about the end of the Boucher era meant it would come sooner rather than later.

“Once the knife is out for players, be it for six months or a year, they’re going to get thrown out.

“With a quality player like Boucher, you wouldn’t want to get to a stage where the selectors blow him out of all cricket. They did it before the (2011) World Cup, which was two years too early,” Jennings said.

“In terms of Test cricket, you would want to go on your own terms rather than somebody else’s.”

The squad named yesterday is unchanged from the one that beat New Zealand 1-0 in March.

Graeme Smith’s team are currently ranked second in the world and will go to England looking to return with the No 1 Test ranking.