Mark Boucher was a feisty and highly effective wicketkeeper-batsman from 1997 to 2012. After a successful tour of England in 2008, he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
Mark Boucher’s career was ended by a serious eye injury suffered in a warm-up match at Taunton on South Africa’s 2012 tour. In 147 Tests he made 555 dismissals. He also made 5,515 runs at 30.30 with five centuries. He is now a successful coach
A couple of years after making his Test debut as a raw 20-year-old, Mark Boucher had acquired the soubriquet “Guinness” – for his collection of records. Fastest and youngest to just about every milestone, he became the most prolific keeper ever in February 2008, after a brief yo-yo at the top of the pile with Adam Gilchrist. His greatest personal moment in 2008, however, came in a supporting role to South African captain Graeme Smith. “Guinness” has given way to “The Finisher”, as his steely determination and icy demeanour under pressure regularly see the team home.
But with five wickets down and 110 still needed to win the Edgbaston Test – and with it South Africa’s first post-isolation series victory in England – he was facing one of his sternest examinations. Stern, though, is something he has done rather well throughout his career, and an unbeaten 45, albeit no more than parsley garnish to Smith’s sirloin 154*, was as critical as it was typical. And he loved it.
The future will change even further: “Twenty20 cricket will see keepers becoming fielders, more mobile. Pads will virtually disappear, becoming shin pads under the trousers, and glove technology will improve to allow easier throwing.”
And why, he ponders, have so many keepers eschewed a helmet? “It’s a no-brainer. If the helmet helps you keep your head down when standing up, then you have more chance of a stumping and hanging on to an edge. My theory is that batting helmets are hot and uncomfortable for keepers. A slight adaptation of the classic baseball catchers’ mask would be perfect. More and more keepers will need to stand up to the stumps, even to quick bowlers, so technology will have to keep up.”
Feisty, driven, ambitious. Nasty, ruthless, selfish. There isn’t much more than a paper’s width between them. Some incline towards the first trio, others towards the second. But one thing his team-mates would all agree on is that they would much rather not be playing against him. And The Finisher is anything but finished.
