Evolved Boucher embraces job as Proteas’ coach: “I learnt that my way is not always the right way, that’s for sure. There were times in my career when I used to go out there and be aggressive and try to impose myself on team-mates”
When Mark Boucher was named the new South African cricket coach last week, those who remembered him as an abrasive ex-Proteas wicketkeeper feared the national team would undergo a makeover in the unpleasant image of his past.
“I learnt that my way is not always the right way, that’s for sure. There were times in my career when I used to go out there and be aggressive and try to impose myself on team-mates. This is what I’ve learnt about diversity: sometimes you won’t get the best out of players if you try to get them to be like you.“My biggest lesson has been to let people be who they are. I certainly played my best when I was natural, but my natural wasn’t the same as AB de Villiers’ or Jacques Kallis’ natural.
The first problem they faced was how little time they had to prepare. The squad was named on Monday and they went into camp only on Wednesday because the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament finished this week. “But the timing of it was very challenging. If we’d played a four-day game we’d have started on the 19th, finished on the 22nd and got together as a team on the 23rd. We would had a practice and a half before the test. So we felt we needed to connect with the new coaching staff and share information with them.”
With batting probably the one area in which the Proteas have regressed the most, Kallis sought to play down what he would be bringing as the batting consultant: “I’m not a big one for changing too many things – Dean Elgar won’t come out batting right-handed.
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