Boucher enthusiastic about new Proteas way
Proteas coach Mark Boucher has emphasised the importance of his young team forging ahead with their new vision when they return to play in what he hopes will be the near future.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is finalising dates for both the domestic and international seasons after more than six months of no action due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2019/20 campaign was prematurely ended in March when the virus forced Boucher and his charges to cut short their limited overs tour to India, whilst local cricket also ended abruptly a few days later.
“It’s been interesting times for everyone,” the national coach says. “We were always meant to have a bit of a break… but no one thought in their wildest dreams that it would be this long, so to have all the guys in one place at the same time was really nice, just to catch up.”
The former Proteas wicketkeeper says the recent culture camp was key for him and assistant coach Enoch Nkwe to have the players lead with laying the foundations for a new identity for their young squad of players.
“It was important for this team to create a new identity. It (just) happened a little bit later than expected,” Boucher continued. “It was good to have a deeper squad as well, I haven’t really been given the opportunity to meet a lot of them personally so it was really nice to catch up with them – see a couple of new faces and see a couple of old faces, spend a bit of time together and get into the nitty-gritties about where we want to go as a team.”
Boucher says he and Nkwe feel the next generation of Proteas have the capability to grow and mature quickly.
“The one thing about the way myself and Enoch want to try and drive this team is to have players take ownership and responsibility for their team. We had really good mediators who came in. It wasn’t about the management; it was really about the players getting a couple of things off their chests and being open and honest. There were some really difficult topics at times, but for me it showed that we as a team might be young, but we are growing quickly.”
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He says there needs to be an improvement in the team’s global standing when pay eventually resumes.
“It’s all about performance and that’s key for me,” he explained. “We don’t want to be a nice group of guys and be eighth in the world. I’d rather be a challenging group of guys and be competing for the number one spot and they all want that as well which is great to hear. We’re all aligned in the right direction, and although it’s all still words, we still need to go out there and try and live it, rather than have it be words coming out of our mouths. I’m happy that the players are happy, but now the hard work starts.
“We want to get on the field and start playing. It’s been a long break, I don’t think the players have had this long a break since school days. Although they’ve been practicing, you (as a coach) want to put that practice into match experience. A few guys have moved over to the IPL, so they’ll be happy that they’ll get some game time.”
