South Africa head coach Mark Boucher believes that there is a lot of work to do with his Test squad, saying his team needs “rebuilding” to make an impact in the longest format of the game.
The Proteas side finished the season – first season as a coach for Boucher, on a high, whitewashing Australian in the three-match ODI series but suffered a 3-1 loss to England in the home Tests.
Boucher told Cricket South Africa, “I think we have a lot of work to do with our Test cricket still, there’s probably a lot of rebuilding in that respect. We didn't perform as we wanted against England. In saying that I think we, as a new coaching staff, we asked some questions and I think we got some answers. Some were good and some were bad.”
The Proteas' side was disappointed with a couple of injuries, but former wicketkeeper-batsman was really pleased with the way youngsters like Janneman Malan, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-Jon Smuts, Anrich Nortje and Kyle Verreyne took the opportunity and rise up to the occasion.
The coach further explained, “We had a couple of injuries as well which didn't help the cause, but I think the exciting thing for me was more the white-ball cricket and to see the guys grow a bit. We gave a bit of opportunity to a couple of youngsters and they really started to gel together as a team and not just rely on one particular guy to carry them through.”
Boucher also said it was part of the new coaching unit's plan to give opportunities to youngsters to increase the team's bench strength. He added, “I was pleasantly surprised, which left us in a situation towards the back end of the season that was a nice situation to be in when a lot of guys were in good form. There was a lot of confidence.”
He signed off by saying, “Our selecting was effectively coming from a pool of 20 odd players, which was a lot better than going into a side where you just go, 'okay, well, these are eleven players that we're definitely going to play.' Now we have quite a few options and that is good for South African cricket.”
(With PTI Inputs)
