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Boucher is "decent" but no more than that

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Paul Moon tells us why anyone comparing the South African wikkie with the likes of Adam Gilchrist needs to seek medical help...

Mark Verdon Boucher (born 3 December 1976 in East London, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) holds the record for the most dismissals in Test cricket (recently eclipsing Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy). Does this make him a great? He is a fine wicket-keeper but he has not entered that special enclosure that is reserved for cricket immortals. Sadly he falls short! It is true that Gilchrist has raised the bar and it could be iniquitous to judge others against what he has achieved.

Regrettably there are buffoons currently comparing Mark Boucher to Adam Gilchrist and my only advice is for them to seek medical help. I consider him an excellent wicket-keeper who bats a bit! To compare his glovework with Ian Healy, Rod Marsh, Bob Taylor, Alan Knott, Jeff Dujon or even his compatriot and predecessor Dave Richardson would be pure folly. He is not close to any of those! It is hard to measure what he has accomplished because he has not kept to a 'real' spinner, which invariably shows if he had the requisite skills.

In 104 Test Matches he has scored just 4 hundreds and 26 fifties with an average of 30.22 and in 250 ODI's just one century and 25 fifties with an average of 28.63. I think you would agree that they represent very moderate reading indeed for a modern day wicket-keeper? These are sorts of averages that English wicket-keepers muster and we all know how bad ours are! Most pundits' think an average nearer 36/37 is par, especially nowadays and against inferior opposition etc...

His latest effort, in the last Test against Bangladesh, he scored 21 runs in 83 balls. It was a lamentable effort, as his side needed quick runs. They had 500 on the board when he came in so there was no pressure. I always regarded him as a solid number seven rather than a number six. Since his best year in 1999 he has slowly retarded in his Test Match batting scores when he really should have kicked on!

I am a little surprised Bangalore require his services in the forthcoming IPL Tournament in April with his strike rate at 89.93 (Gilchrist has 141.66 and Sangakarra has 106.15). He does have big hitting ability but his shots are limited, which would be easy to cut off!

No, he is decent but not more than that. I have always been sceptical about statistics that include lots of appearances against minor Test nations and SA do play a disproportionate number of games against minnows! With that in mind his batting figures actually show inflated information. I noted with more than passing interest that Shane Warne did not consider him in the top fifty players he has played with or against.

Boucher has qualities that I admire and respect however. He is not a faint heart and is recognised as a scrapper. In the period when the team was under Shaun Pollock's leadership, Boucher was the regular vice-captain of the team and led them in four Tests. These matches included a victory over Australia, an achievement that neither Pollock or current captain Graeme Smith has achieved.

Boucher showed his leadership qualities when he talked and persuaded Herschelle Gibbs to tell the truth about his match-fixing episode with Hans Cronje. He deserves maximum credit for that, it would have been so easy to keep your head down and not get involved! Well done Mark!

Bangladesh entertain South Africa on Wednesday in the Second One-Day International at Mirpur and I find it impossible to get excited about these non-events. For those that do Bangladesh are [7.4] to win with The Proteas [1.13]. Prices with Betfair.

Reading headlines like 'South Africa outclass Bangladesh' and 'Smith scores brilliant century' turns my sporting stomach. The most awful was when Smith said, "This tour has been beneficial so far with all the boys standing up to the challenge." Challenge? What flippin challenge? This was said after beating the tiny tots in just over 3 days by an innings and 205 runs. Oh dear Graeme, words like check and reality spring to mind!

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