Let’s talk about Mark

Is South Africa’s head coach a ‘dead man walking’? Is it just a matter of time before the paperwork is finalised and he is dismissed? The tone of the seven-page charge sheet issued by his employers, Cricket South Africa, would indicate that the relationship between them has irretrievably broken down and that, even if he is found not guilty, his position has become untenable.

But none of the above may be true.

When CSA rightly committed itself to holding the SJN Hearings at which former and current cricketers and administrators were given a welcome and public platform on which to air their grievances about real and perceived incidences of racial bias and prejudice, they also de facto committed themselves to acting on the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman, Dumisa Ntsebeza.

He concluded, “tentatively”, that Boucher may be guilty of discriminatory behaviour on the basis of race and suggested that a further procedure was needed to establish whether he was guilty. In the terms of his contract of employment, that could only be a Disciplinary Hearing. And because the charge to be investigated was ‘racism’, the charge had to be described as ‘gross misconduct.’

The wording on the charge-sheet is extreme, but it had to be. Ntsebeza’s ‘tentative’ conclusions were of an extremely harsh nature. It does not necessarily mean Boucher’s relationship with CSA is terminally declined. Although he does enjoy and endure hectically divergent levels of support and disdain amongst the CSA board members and executive. Some want him gone at all costs, others will defend him at any cost.

Full disclosure: I ghost-wrote Boucher’s biography. Many have assumed I am therefore firmly in his ‘camp.’ The assumptions could barely be more inaccurate. There are few former players over the last 30 years with whom I have a more distant relationship. We organised times when we spoke for an hour during the composition of the book, during which he sometimes appeared perfunctory but was, in fact, just dispassionately and sometimes eye-wateringly honest.

Once the project was completed I suggested we had a celebratory drink. Nothing came of it. In the first year of the Covid pandemic, with much of my regular freelance work cancelled, I was surviving on morsels. A radio station offered me R3000 for a feature interview with Mark. I asked him, twice. He didn’t reply. But when certain people make their minds up, they stay made up. So I’m in Boucher’s camp. (Actually, I’m just interested in fairness.) 

A couple of months ago Lungi Ngidi praised and thanked Boucher for his ‘honesty’ when, as coach of the Titans, he told the fast bowler some “hard truths” about his fitness and what was required to succeed at international level. Basically, he told him he was overweight and coasting – abusing his supreme talent. Ngidi was stung at the time, but grateful in the years afterwards. There is no question that other coaches would have approached the subject with more diplomacy.

Apologies for the brevity and simplification of two of the charges against Boucher, but you’ll get the point. The first is that he acted in a ‘racist or subliminally racist way’ when he suggested that team manager Khomotso (Volvo) Masubelele speak to the black players while he spoke to the white players when they were trying to reach a consensus on how to express their support for the stance against racism and the BLM movement.

In Boucher’s world, the “you talk to your ‘okes and I’ll talk to mine” approach would be nothing more than common sense. ‘Let’s get this situation sorted out as quickly as possible’. Just as bowlers and batters hold their own meetings. Boucher would have believed, I believe, that ‘like for like’ conversations would result in the best outcomes. Whatever the truth and the ‘look’ of his decision, it’s hard to be certain that a recognition of differences constitutes racism.

Then there is the resignation of his assistant coach, Enoch Nkwe, who’s lack of role definition was cited as another example of Boucher’s ‘subliminal racism.’ There was, apparently, nothing in Boucher’s contract which stipulated that he should define Nkwe’s role and duties. It would have been desirable that Boucher took this duty upon himself and showed respect to the man whom he had just been appointed to take over from, but it is almost certain that he would have behaved in exactly the same way no matter what colour or creed his assistant was.

One of Boucher’s oldest and closest confidants once told me “…he isn’t close to many people but he will die for those he is close to.” I’ve heard that before. It’s a metaphor for ‘I know he can look like a dickhead at times but he’s actually a good person, inside.’ I always wondered why those people were so unconcerned by how they looked on the ‘outside.’ Especially when they are in such a high profile, public position.

Mark Boucher will almost certainly be cleared of the charges of racism, and probably rightly. His ‘old school’ and ‘hard, honest’ approach to coaching has finally reaped rich rewards with Test and ODI series wins against India. The question to be asked is whether his style can be tolerated for the results. The answer to that will only come from the players. We will never get to hear what Temba Bavuma and Dean Elgar say, but they will decide whether Boucher continues or not.