ICYMI: The 5 reasons why CSA dropped all charges against Boucher

Two days after former team-mate of Mark Boucher’s, Paul Adams, said he would not be testifying at the Proteas head coach’s misconduct hearing next week, Cricket South Africa dropped all the charges against the former national wicketkeeper.

Boucher was due to face a disciplinary hearing from Monday following the “tentative findings” by the Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) hearings.

Adams said at the SJN hearings he had been called racist names in his playing days with the Proteas and, among other things, Boucher’s name had been mentioned in this regard.

On Sunday, however, Adams said he would not take part in Boucher’s hearing. Then, early on Tuesday, CSA said they were withdrawing all charges, including racism charges, against Boucher.

Boucher said he welcomed the decision and would look to continue to take the Proteas “to greater heights” in future.

These then are the five reasons why CSA opted to drop their case against the Proteas coach:

1. Paul Adams recently announced that he had withdrawn from testifying against Boucher during the upcoming disciplinary hearing. In doing so, Adams stated that his concerns articulated during the SJN process were about the overall “culture” in the Proteas team during the early 2000s, rather than being about any particular player.

2. During the SJN process, Boucher formally apologised to Adams. After the SJN process, Adams indicated to CSA’s lawyers that he accepts this apology.

3. Former national team assistant coach Enoch Nkwe decided that he too did not wish to testify against Boucher during the disciplinary hearing. In doing so, Nkwe stated publicly that he did not intend to take sides regarding Boucher and that “whatever happens in that process, I hope the outcome will be the one that’s best for the game”.

4. CSA’s lawyers engaged with various other potential witnesses over the last month and concluded that none of the three charges were sustainable.

5. The very recent ruling by Advocates Hamilton Maenetje SC and Michael Bishop in the Graeme Smith arbitration fortified the conclusion that the charges against Boucher would be dismissed.

CSA said there was no basis to sustain any of the charges against Boucher and therefore decided to withdraw the charges. They will contribute towards Boucher’s legal costs.