Proteas head coach Mark Boucher
- Proteas coach Mark Boucher will wait for a new convenor of selectors before naming his Test captain.
- Cricket SA is yet to name a replacement for Linda Zondi as selector chief.
- Faf du Plessis stepped down at Test skipper in February, while Quinton de Kock is the limited overs captain.
Proteas coach Mark Boucher says a decision on the team’s next Test captain will be made once a new convenor of selectors is selected.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is yet to name a new convenor of selectors to replace Linda Zondi, while the national team is also without a Test captain since Faf du Plessis stepped down in February.
Boucher said via a press statement on Monday that they will only make an official announcement on the Test skipper once Zondi’s replacement is named.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations and a lot of time to think about what we want to do. Unfortunately, at this stage, we need a convenor (of selectors) to come in as well and hopefully the convenor will be elected soon. It’s a discussion that will be had and probably debated amongst a few people. We’ve addressed it in small-talk and we’ve been given the opportunity to have a lot of time to think about the decision,” Boucher said.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock is currently the captain in the limited overs formats but is unlikely to also take the Test armband.
“We’ll look to select someone else for the Test role. One of the things that we’ve learned from a side like England is a guy like Eoin Morgan comes in and he’s got a lot of time to plan because he’s not involved in the Test team,” Boucher continued.
“So, when he goes away from white ball cricket, he’s got an opportunity to sit down and plan, so when they sit down as a white ball team again, there’s a very clear direction of where they want to go. Sometimes when a player and especially the captain is involved in all three formats, it can be an automatic swap from format to the other because there’s not a lot of time in between.
“So that’s the positive, you get a captain who can sit down and really plan what he wants and he can try drive that vision to the players and it gives you some freshness when there’s a short turnaround time between the formats.”
Boucher added that De Kock’s workload “is pretty high”.
“He showed good results in the T20s and the one-dayers that he’s taken over. The last conversation I had with Quinny around this topic was in India where he felt that the workload was going to be a little high for him.
“Whoever is the captain will probably use Quinny’s brain to good effect as a keeper, you see things from probably the best angle. I’m sure he’ll add a lot of value just being Quinton de Kock within the Test team,” Boucher concluded.
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– Compiled by Sport24 staff
