CSA must be clear on policies, says Boucher
EMBATTLED Proteas coach Mark Boucher has called on Cricket South Africa to be more transparent with their transformation policies to avoid speculation over national team selection.
The current CSA policy requires the national team to field six players of colour, including three Black Africans, on average over the course of the season.
Boucher, in his submission to CSA’s Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, has called for greater clarity in order to avoid “player insecurities”.
“The players, media and public need to understand why these selection decisions are made so that there is no room for player insecurities, which leads to added anxiety amongst players, as well as unnecessary speculations in the media and social media,” Boucher said.
“The transformation committee, in my opinion, needs to have a very clear explanation to everyone, public included, what their selection policies are, why they are there, and if and when they change, to simply be transparent about it.”
Boucher has previously stated that he is not solely responsible for picking the Proteas national team, and that it is a collective panel that is headed by convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang.
The former national wicketkeeper also believed it was “unfair” that the so-called ‘clique’ of players, which he was reportedly part of during the latter 2000s, were involved in team selection.
Mention of the clique – a group of white players – and the influence it had on the Proteas team culture has been ever present since former batsman Herschelle Gibbs made reference to it in his 2010 autobiography To the Point.
Gibbs was never selected for the Proteas again, his last match a T20I against Pakistan in May 2010.
He has also never worked within SA’s coaching structures since, but has coached teams in the European Super League, Sri Lankan Premier
League and Pakistan Super League.
Testimonies at the SJN hearings from the likes of Roger Telemachus, Paul Adams and Ashwell Prince once again referred to an influential clique within the Proteas team.
“It is unfortunate that the group of players that became the senior Protea players in my playing career, and who spent time together, have been portrayed in the hearings by some witnesses as a cynical clique who were involved in selection. This is simply not true,” Boucher said in his submission.
“It is unfair to say, without any substantiating evidence, that this clique in any way undermined the values, culture or performance of the team or was involved in selection.”
Boucher departs today with the Proteas for their limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka.