Former Proteas, Warriors and Border star Mark Boucher was back in East London for a few days after arriving with his team the Titans for their Ram Slam T20 encounter with the Warriors, which was battled out at Buffalo Park last night.
It has been almost a year and a half since Boucher stepped into the massive shoes left by his predecessor Rob Walters at the Titans, and he has taken to the task with aplomb.
He has led the Titans to two titles in his short time there – last season’s CSA T20 Challenge and Momentum One-Day Cup – and almost made it a full house, but the team fell agonisingly short by losing out to the Knights in the Sunfoil Series.
It has been a golden start for Boucher and shows the promise he has to become one of the top coaches in SA.
“I am still learning as a very young coach. I have had a lot of good times and enjoyed myself and the challenge managing some great individuals,” Boucher told the Saturday Dispatch earlier this week.
“There is a lot of potential at the Titans. We don’t see our international players most of the time so we do have to keep working on the younger generation coming through.
“But the Titans is a quality setup, so I have great relationships with everyone at the union, right from the top in administration down to the lower levels.
“There is a great pipeline of players and good coaches, so everything works there and it is a pleasure to be in a franchise like this, and certainly makes my job a whole lot easier.”
Boucher was born and raised in East London, attending Selborne College during his school years.
His illustrious playing career saw him feature for Border, the Warriors, Cape Cobras, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, among his Proteas commitments.
In all Boucher played in 147 Test matches, 295 ODIs and 25 T20 internationals for South Africa and an incredible 1134 cricket matches in total when factoring in his franchise and provincial commitments.
Although he will be leaving East London today he will have enjoyed the short time back in his home town.
“It is my hometown so it is going to be good to be back with my family. I haven’t seen them in a while so it will be good to see them,” said Boucher.
Looking on to the future Boucher does not want to look too far ahead and wants to keep the focus on the now.
“My contract with the Titans is four years. It was for two and then they extended it for another two, so at the moment I have one focus and that is to coach the Titans for that contractual period and then take it from there,” said Boucher.
He will be very eager to add to his trophy cabinet, and will have a fantastic chance to do that with all of his Proteas stars available for this year’s Ram Slam T20 competition, and will be hoping that they will be able to help the side retain their title.
“I believe that we have the balance and ability in the side to play good cricket for 80-90% of the tournament, and if we are in the right place in the final stages we will have the chance to go out there and hopefully win another title,” said Boucher.
“But there is still a lot of work to be done leading up to that.
“If we prepare well and keep it nice and simple and maybe even get a bit of luck along the way we should be in contention at the end of the campaign.”
Boucher relishes his chance to see family
It has been almost a year and a half since Boucher stepped into the massive shoes left by his predecessor Rob Walters at the Titans, and he has taken to the task with aplomb.
He has led the Titans to two titles in his short time there – last season’s CSA T20 Challenge and Momentum One-Day Cup – and almost made it a full house, but the team fell agonisingly short by losing out to the Knights in the Sunfoil Series.
It has been a golden start for Boucher and shows the promise he has to become one of the top coaches in SA.
“I am still learning as a very young coach. I have had a lot of good times and enjoyed myself and the challenge managing some great individuals,” Boucher told the Saturday Dispatch earlier this week.
“There is a lot of potential at the Titans. We don’t see our international players most of the time so we do have to keep working on the younger generation coming through.
“But the Titans is a quality setup, so I have great relationships with everyone at the union, right from the top in administration down to the lower levels.
“There is a great pipeline of players and good coaches, so everything works there and it is a pleasure to be in a franchise like this, and certainly makes my job a whole lot easier.”
Boucher was born and raised in East London, attending Selborne College during his school years.
His illustrious playing career saw him feature for Border, the Warriors, Cape Cobras, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, among his Proteas commitments.
In all Boucher played in 147 Test matches, 295 ODIs and 25 T20 internationals for South Africa and an incredible 1134 cricket matches in total when factoring in his franchise and provincial commitments.
Although he will be leaving East London today he will have enjoyed the short time back in his home town.
“It is my hometown so it is going to be good to be back with my family. I haven’t seen them in a while so it will be good to see them,” said Boucher.
Looking on to the future Boucher does not want to look too far ahead and wants to keep the focus on the now.
“My contract with the Titans is four years. It was for two and then they extended it for another two, so at the moment I have one focus and that is to coach the Titans for that contractual period and then take it from there,” said Boucher.
He will be very eager to add to his trophy cabinet, and will have a fantastic chance to do that with all of his Proteas stars available for this year’s Ram Slam T20 competition, and will be hoping that they will be able to help the side retain their title.
“I believe that we have the balance and ability in the side to play good cricket for 80-90% of the tournament, and if we are in the right place in the final stages we will have the chance to go out there and hopefully win another title,” said Boucher.
“But there is still a lot of work to be done leading up to that.
“If we prepare well and keep it nice and simple and maybe even get a bit of luck along the way we should be in contention at the end of the campaign.”
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