SA 'cowards' not 'chicken'
Jaco van der Merwe, Beeld
Ahmedabad - Nobody should call Mark Boucher a coward. And the South African wicketkeeper does not forget anyone who does cross the line, as some Sri Lankan newspapers have done.
Boucher would have captained the Proteas in a triangular series in Sri Lanka in August while Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis were recovering from injuries. The third team would have been India.
However, after two bomb explosions it was felt the team's safety could not be guaranteed and they returned to South Africa.
Boucher was portrayed as a coward and one newspaper even carried a picture of him with the word "Chicken" as the heading.
That is one of the reasons Boucher would like to be on the winning side when South Africa and Sri Lanka meet in an ICC Champions Trophy match here on Tuesday. South Africa must win to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.
"For those of us who bore the brunt of the criticism in the Sri Lankan media, this is a big one," Boucher said here on Sunday." They called us cowards and therefore some of the guys are really looking forward to this match."
Reached three figures off 44 balls
"We hold nothing against their players but would like to show the newspapers a thing or two. What they reported was unfair and ill-considered and we would like to give them something proper to write about."
The 29-year-old Boucher has been in outstanding form behind the wickets and with the bat after losing his place to Thami Tsolekile in the SA Test team in 2004.
Last season he scored an unbeaten 50 when South Africa amassed 438-9 in the famous victory over Australia at the Wanderers. And at Potchefstroom recently he hammered the second fastest century in the history of one-day internationals when he reached three figures off 44 balls.
Boucher credits former SA wicketkeeper and national coach Ray Jennings for much of his success.
"I owe Ray a lot. We did not get on too well at the start, but now our relationship is very good. We have a lot of respect for each other since we worked together. He taught me to be proud of whatever I do," Boucher said.
News source: www.news24.co.za
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