Now Proteas can focus on cricket
PROTEAS Men’s coach Mark Boucher can finally begin planning for the much-awaited tours to India, England and the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia without a sword hanging over his neck.
Boucher has been under severe strain since being appointed national team coach in December 2019.
It reached boiling point, though, over the past 12 months after Cricket South Africa charged Boucher with “gross misconduct” earlier this year.
But with his disciplinary hearing set for next week, Cricket SA made a spectacular U-turn yesterday when they “formally and unreservedly” dropped all the charges against the former wicket-keeper, which allows him to continue in his current role.
Boucher was certainly tentative about his immediate future after the Test series win against Bangladesh last month – which catapulted the Proteas to second on the ICC Test Championship log – when he stated: “When I was playing, going to England and Australia were very tough. It would be nice to compete against them. But we’ll see what happens in the future.”
The Proteas Men’s team are due to tour India for a five-match T20I series starting on June 9 in Delhi, and Boucher’s energies will now be firmly focused on using that series as a crucial part of the preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be held Down Under later this year.
The Proteas failed to qualify for last year’s T20 World Cup semi-finals in the United Arab Emirates, despite winning four of their five group matches.
They then head off the United Kingdom for a full three-format series against England.
“The allegations of racism which
were levelled against me were unjustified, and have caused me considerable hurt and anguish,” Boucher said in a statement yesterday.
“The last few months have been extremely difficult to endure for me and my family. I am glad that the process has finally come to an end, and that CSA has accepted that the charges against me are unsustainable.
“I consider that the matter is now finalised and closed. I look forward to continuing to focus on my job, and to taking the Proteas Men’s team to even
greater heights.”
The charges against Boucher had arisen from the Social Justice and Nation-Building report, where he was singled out for calling a former Proteas teammate a “brown sh*t” as part of a team song, the investigation into former Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe’s resignation and also his handling of the Black Lives Matter movement within the national team.
However, with Adams and Nkwe unwilling to testify at the pending hearing, and former Director of Cricket Graeme Smith being cleared of all charges levelled against him recently, Cricket SA had no basis for their charges.
CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki expressed the organisation’s regret in drawing out Boucher’s case while the Proteas were showing significant improvement on the field, where they have won four out of five series since February last year.
“CSA appreciates that it has been very difficult for Mark to deal with these charges hanging over his head over the last few months. CSA regrets this,” Moseki said.
“CSA is also appreciative of the fact that Mark has at all times conducted himself properly and professionally – refusing to be drawn into public debates about the charges, and carrying out his duties with commitment and dedication.
“The performance of the Proteas Men’s team over this period has been extremely impressive, particularly in the Test arena, and this speaks to the efforts of Mark, his support staff and the players.”
CSA executive chair Lawson Naidoo also wished to clarify that “the SJN process was never only or even mainly about the conduct of individuals”, but rather “to allow for careful consideration of the systemic measures necessary to address these issues going forward for the future”.
Boucher was glad that he is already helping to address these issues in his role as Proteas Men’s coach, where he is “proud to be part of a team culture that is inclusive, and whose objective is to be respectful to every person”.