Fearful Proteas ‘lacked intent’, admits coach Boucher

As a human being, Mark Boucher seems to lack the gene for a fear of failure, which made him one of the most tenacious cricketers around. But now, as a coach, he has admitted that is exactly the weakness his Proteas team showed as they crashed to a series loss to Bangladesh in humiliating fashion in the third and final ODI in Centurion on Wednesday evening.

Choosing to bat first, South Africa folded meekly to 154 all out in 37 overs. Bangladesh then showed them how to bat on the SuperSport Park pitch as they raced to victory in just 26-and-a-half overs with one wicket down.

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“We lacked intent. We went to sleep after a good start to our innings,” Boucher said after the 2-1 series defeat.

“We wanted to take the game forward. You do need to take some risks but there was almost a fear of getting out.

“It was as if we were not batting to set a total, which Bangladesh showed should have been more than 300, but batting to not get out, and then we spiralled into a total collapse.

What is baffling, however, is that much the same team beat India 3-0 in January and they should have had the confidence of a billionaire on the front cover of Forbes magazine.

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Boucher said the vagaries of form had also played a role in the shock series defeat.

“Against India we had guys in great form and there were big partnerships. In this series we lost an aggressive player like Aiden Markram whose form is worrying, so new guys come into the team,” Boucher said.

“In the back of their heads they probably want to get runs to prove that they belong here, and that brings in a bit of fear.

“Maybe they are too scared to play the way they should. So it comes down to a lack of form and belief.”