Johannesburg: Mark Boucher has decided to leave his role as Head Coach of South Africa men’s team after the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, Cricket South Africa announced here on Monday.
Cricket South Africa will announce a replacement in due course.
“Mr. (Mark) Boucher has decided to resign in order to pursue other opportunities in line with his future career and personal objectives. While Cricket SA greatly regrets that Boucher is unable to see out the term of his contract, it respects his decision and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours,” Cricket South Africa said in a statement here.
Boucher has held the position as South Africa Men”s Head Coach since December 2019 and led the Proteas to 11 Test wins, including a memorable 2-1 series win against India at home in January 2022. The Proteas are also currently number two on the ICC World Test Championship table.
In the limited-overs arena, Boucher has helped South Africa claim victory in 12 One-Day Internationals, and 23 T20 International victories, the most recent being a historic 2-1 series triumph against England.
His last series at the helm 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 are grouped alongside Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The tournament will run from October 16 to November 13.
On Boucher’s decision to quit, CSA Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki commented: “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,” he added.
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.”
(IANS)
