Rabada ban not to blame for Proteas’ humdrum showing – Boucher

Kagiso Rabada’s one-game ban after committing the same code of conduct violation for the fourth time in the last two years came as a shock to South African cricket on Friday morning, but Proteas coach Mark Boucher said it was not to blame for the team’s lacklustre showing on the second day of the third Test against England at St George’s Park.

England piled up 499 for nine declared on Friday, before reducing South Africa to 60 for two before rain stopped play.

But not even another superb Ben Stokes hundred and a maiden century for Ollie Pope could take the limelight off Rabada, who received a single demerit point for his overly provocative celebration of Joe Root’s dismissal on the first day, when the fast bowler made a beeline for the batsman’s crease.

Unfortunately for Rabada and his team, that one point takes him to a total of four active demerit points, the threshold for a one-match ban. He will now miss the decisive final Test at the Wanderers next week.

While Boucher said Rabada’s repeated infringing would need to be addressed, he did express some misgivings over the ICC code of conduct.

“We only heard about the ban this morning and I don’t think most of the guys knew about it and we weren’t even 100% sure how many demerit points he was on. I don’t think the guys were down on the field, they knew they still had a big chance to do well in this Test match and I don’t think KG’s situation affected them much. It’s just the skills weren’t up to scratch.

“It’s a tough one because he was done for excessive celebrations in the area of the batsman but there was no contact whatsoever. Yes, he was in the batsman’s space, but a Level I offence is basically a slap on the wrist. But we weren’t aware how many demerit points he had already and it’s a massive blow, especially not to have him at the Wanderers, where he would be very effective.

“You can’t appeal a Level I charge although we were concerned over the rule they used and that there are a couple of variations of it. KG bowls at his best when he is nice and aggressive but we need to try and keep the balance right, he needs to stay on the good side of the laws of the game. It’s definitely something we need to address and as a team man he is very disappointed.

“I’m a bit worried about some things in world cricket to be honest. Even swear words are not great but it’s just aggression and trying to make the batsman uncomfortable. In our day we could say whatever we wanted and get away with it, so it’s a learning curve for us as well. You don’t want to take all the aggression out and I hope the ICC finds the right balance and doesn’t take the emotion out of the game,” Boucher said on Friday.

Boucher also praised Stokes for his superb knock of 120, his third ton against South Africa in 20 innings, the powerful left-hander making the bowlers look like lame ducks for the second Test in a row.

“You have to give credit where it is due, Stokes was really good today and then Pope took it on. Keshav Maharaj bowled really well but once Stokes starts taking on the boundary riders it becomes very difficult. But the pitch is still playing well, there’s a bit of purchase for the spinner, but he showed that if you apply yourself then there are runs out there. It’s still a good wicket to bat on.

“We’ll be under more pressure than they were because they’ve already scored 500, but we need big partnerships and that will go a long way towards saving this Test. Once a partnership is formed then you can get stuck in like Stokes and Pope did, but we need to form that partnership. There’s a big hundred out there for someone, there’s still lots of runs out there,” Boucher said.

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