“He never responded to my message,” Du Plessis says poor relation with Boucher led to his Test retirement

Faf du Plessis retired from Test cricket in February last year.

Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis opened up on his retirement from Test cricket, saying that a breakdown in his relationship with coach Mark Boucher led him to call time on his red-ball career.

In an excerpt from his upcoming autobiography Faf: Through Fire, Du Plessis cited a controversy over dropping Temba Bavuma during the home Test series against England in the 2019-20 season, Boucher’s first assignment after taking charge as coach.

Du Plessis defended the axing of Bavuma saying he “didn’t see colour”, after being asked about the omission of only black African batter in the side.

According to Du Plessis, neither Boucher nor Cricket South Africa (CSA) Director of Cricket Graeme Smith supported him when his remarks over Bavuma’s exclusion caught fire.

“I needed someone to back me up in the media, and Graeme and Mark were best positioned to clear the air and show public support for their national captain who was dealing with head — and tailwinds simultaneously. When Mark attended a press conference while this storm was raging, he didn’t do that,” he wrote in his book.

He also shared an incident from the tour of Pakistan in early 2021, involving him and Boucher. Du Plessis wanted Keshav Maharaj to play the role of nightwatchman following Rassie van der Dussen’s dismissal 25 minutes before stumps on Day 3 of the first Test.

On the other hand, Boucher insisted that Faf du Plessis should got out and bat, resulting in the latter’s dismissal five minutes before stumps.

“I was furious when I left the field. We had just lost a main batter because of an avoidable tactical error. I said to myself that I was too emotional to address this with Mark immediately and that I should go to bed, sleep on it, and discuss it with him the following morning,” wrote Du Plessis.

Faf du Plessis further claimed that when he conveyed his decision to retire from Tests to Boucher, the coach didn’t bother to reply to his message.

“He never responded to my message, nor did he contact me after the announcement had been made… His silence confirmed to me that I had made the right decision to retire from Tests,” wrote du Plessis, who retired from the five-day format soon after the Pakistan tour.