Faf du Plessis describes strained relationship with Mark Boucher

Back in February 2021, Du Plessis – who was the most senior batsman in the Proteas squad at the time – announced his retirement from Test cricket.

Du Plessis hung up his bat after playing 69 Tests for the Proteas, scoring 10 centuries and 21 half-centuries and finishing with 4,163 runs at an average of 40.

In his autobiography “FAF: through fire”,’ Du Plessis speaks at length about the ongoing battles to form a connection with former Proteas coach Mark Boucher, who is credited for his technical strengths, but is said to lack soft interpersonal skills.

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In his book, Du Plessis pinpoints a moment that he realised the writing was on the wall when him and Boucher clashed in the changeroom over a decision on whether or not to send in a nightwatchman during the 2021 series against Pakistan, which would prove to be the last Test tour for the veteran batsman

The former Proteas skipper recalls how the it had been team policy for a main Proteas batsman to have the option to nominate a nightwatchman if there were seven overs or 30 minutes of play remaining in the day when a wicket fell.

Instead, Boucher overruled Du Plessis and insisted he go out to bat, which he did, before losing his wicket just before the close of play.

“I was furious when I left the field. We had just lost a main batter because of an avoidable tactical error,” Du Plessis writes.

Du Plessis averaged 40.02 with the bat across 69 Test matches

The incident was later discussed during a team meeting where Du Plessis made his feelings clearly known on the matter, but it’s suggested that matters were never satisfactorily resolved, with Boucher ultimately standing by his position that there should be a 15-minute rule when it came to using a nightwatchman before the end of play.

“Mark brought this conversation up again a few months later while we were still discussing my involvement in the T20 World Cup, and he said that he didn’t like the way I had challenged him on the nightwatchman…

“Mark and I didn’t have a deep connection, and he might have experienced our discussion in Pakistan as a personal attack or disrespect, which it wasn’t. At least not from my perspective. But it goes to show how critically important relationships within a team setup are.”

This is just one incident that Du Plessis highlights to show how Boucher and him simply struggled to see eye-to-eye, and there are various other examples in the book to suggest that the former captain began to feel increasingly isolated and undervalued.

“I reached a point where I felt that neither Faf the cricketer nor Faf the man was seen to be adding value to the Test side. The coach believed that he was trying to get the best out of me but, in his mind, that meant upskilling me. My leadership and experience went untapped, and I knew it was time to depart Test cricket… sadly not in the way I would have liked.”

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