ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 6, 2021

Mark Boucher

Sharjah Stadium

South Africa

Post Match Media Conference

South Africa 189/2 (20) - England 179/8 (20)

Q. Just in terms of the overall campaign, how would you rate it? Would you say it's successful?

MARK BOUCHER: Well, it's not successful because you're knocked out of the World Cup. It's a bitter pill to swallow. I think we played some very good cricket throughout the campaign, cricket under a lot of pressure as well after having lost our first game.

We put in a lot of hard work in training. Our chats were good. I think we beat the in-form side in world cricket tonight in white ball cricket for a while now. It's tough for the guys in the chat room. We knew what we had to do today. The equation was very difficult for us to have to get through. I just said to the guys, just try and control what we can control and unfortunately we can't control with a other results are out there.

We did the job today, but yeah, it's quite bitter.

Q. When it's fresh, not getting through, can you highlight why you didn't get through?

MARK BOUCHER: Well, the first game. The first game was tight. We just didn't bat well enough. Even looking at that game, it's tough. We lost the toss. We batted first and we weren't 100 percent sure what a good total was because we were the first game to go out there and be played.

So we maybe looked at getting 160. Probably needed about 130, 140 to be competitive. We could have maybe done better there. You know, chasing a small total against Bangladesh, people can maybe look at that and said we should have gone a bit harder there, but that wasn't the intention, and we lost three wickets on a wicket that is going all over the shop.

Unfortunately ifs and buts, they didn't count now.

Q. You obviously know that it was awe young side that came through. What positives can you take from the campaign, considering there's a World Cup in 12 months' time?

MARK BOUCHER: Yeah, this team know that is we are on a journey, upward curve, that we are learning along the way. You know, we by no means are a finished product. These games will stand us in very good stead because as I said, every game we played was under pressure. That's one thing we probably haven't done very well in the past is playing big games, pressurised games, and we really did well in this particular competition.

Yes, it's a young side. We are still developing and hopefully we can go from strength-to-strength from here, take this confidence through, as well. It's not something we just arrived at a World Cup and all of the sudden start playing good cricket. We have won a lot of games in the recent time.

So we are heading in the right direction. We just need a bit of good luck and a bit of fortune to go our way and hopefully we can sort of put something in the trophy cabinet soon.

Q. Might be a bit raw, but your net run rate, the tool used in this situation, as you mentioned you beat England, and just because your defeat was a narrative here, is this the way to decide how and when teams go through?

MARK BOUCHER: I think, you know, you come to all these competitions and there's different rules here and there. The biggest thing for me is we knew what the rules were before. As long as there's clarity around there, then you've got to play what the rules are.

Guys are chatting around, it's not only us, it's other teams as well talking about what a good competition is. Everyone who plays in the competition.

Look, I'm not here to make those calls. I'm a coach and I've got cricketers that I've got to try and get going in the right direction, and we knew what the rules were and unfortunately we got -- we didn't pass the test unfortunately.

Q. Just from your experience and what you saw out there, what do you think of England's chances going on from here? You called them the "in-form team in world cricket." Do you still think that they are tournament favourites?

MARK BOUCHER: Yeah, look, they are very dangerous. We saw I think two of our batters who batted really well today in Rassie and also in Aiden. They put in a good partnership, and even then we were still stretched right towards the end. I'm sure most teams around the world have got a lot of respect for England's white ball team. They are a dangerous team. They have got some good bowling combinations as well.

Yes, they are going to take some beating going forward in this competition and it's going to be interesting to watch. There's a couple of other good in-form teams as well. Pakistan, everyone has been talking about them as well. I think those are the two teams to beat.

Australia, and I'm not sure if India or West Indies are to go through or even if Afghanistan are going to go through, but I still think it will be some very good close cricket on wickets that are getting pretty tough to play on. Not this one tonight, but I think the two venues that they are going to be using are going to be interesting scores.

Q. You're obviously disappointed but considering the expectations going in, would you say that people should maybe just look at this team and think that they are improving and that things are getting better and it's not the kind of doom and gloom we had beforehand?

MARK BOUCHER: Well, I've said that all along that we are improving and that we can look at the results. You know, since we are sort of given a directive that it's not just about getting games of cricket out there; it's about results, as well and I think it's before the West Indies. The guys have really played well and good cricket.

As I said, it's not something that we've just come into a bit of form at a World Cup. We have been playing good cricket for quite some time. The guys as I have said all along, they have skill and they have been learning how to play different situations, as well, and they have got a lot of confidence.

Yes, it's a team that as I said, it's not the finished product, and hopefully we can get behind this group of players who are working really hard to try and get back to where we should be in world cricket. It doesn't happen overnight. But certainly there's a lot of effort going on behind the scenes to get us back to where we believe we should be and can be.

Q. When you look back one year, and look at where the team was back then and especially in terms of the batting, there's another T20 cricket World Cup in a year's time. How much do you think you guys are going to be able to take out of this tournament, and do you feel like if you guys improve as much as you have in the last year, where will we be in the next T20 Cricket World Cup?

MARK BOUCHER: Yeah, look, players move around, get some -- we can get some new guys coming through the system and that. It's quite difficult. A year ago, if you look at the makeup of this team and you write down names, I probably wouldn't have had all of them. I probably would have had some other names there as well.

Cricket, things change very quickly. So as long as the players around the system are willing to be challenged and willing to grow in their own particular games, I do I believe that, yes, we are heading in the right direction. Playing in World Cups is always exciting and I think that next year's World Cup will be exciting as well.

Last year, you said where we were last year, last year we weren't even playing cricket really. So it's just good to see we have given quite a few opportunities to players in our set up and the depth pool is quite big now. And it's nice as a coach and as selectors to be able to select different guys and give them opportunities and hopefully see one or two of them push forward for top spots in the first team. It just stands good for everyone, and you know, especially for the players, it gives some good competition out there as well.

So I think we are headed in the right direction. We just need to be nice and patient and keep challenging players and players need to keep challenging themselves.

Q. I just wonder, when you were sitting there watching your team bat, were you thinking, why in the heck didn't they bat like this earlier in the tournament or was it the conditions of the field?

MARK BOUCHER: I think it's conditions. We always go out with a plan to try and put pressure on bowling attacks. The conditions have been tough. We have not really got off to a start like that in quite some time in the World Cup, at least. We have always been losing wickets in the power play. So we set our certain targets that we try to achieve.

We are quite adaptable in these conditions as well. But yeah, we got two guys who managed to stay at the crease and get a good partnership which is something we always try to do. And we were able to bat ourselves into position where we could really put England in pressure on the back end and it paid off tonight.

So I think the conditions were quite good for batting tonight. The dew had a bit of effect on it as well. The ball seemed to fly. There was a short boundary. Yeah, I think the guys batted really well tonight but obviously they try to set themselves up for that all the time. It's just been -- I think the conditions have been fairly tough, and if you have a look at the scores around, it's showed that as well.

Q. You mentioned the partnership between Rassie and Aiden. Could you speak about those two and what you feel their strengths are, and how positive it is to have those two developing in their roles heading into next year's World Cup?

MARK BOUCHER: Yeah, look, Aiden especially, he was a sort of opening batter and we actually made a conscious effort to try to get him in the middle order. I think he's strong enough to be able to clear boundary riders, and there was a bit of a risk that we took, but he's shown that he's come through in that role as well batting at No. 4.

I think both of them are very adaptable. There were certain times we might have used Rassie at No. 5 but we felt that in order to maximize the power play tonight. We wanted him up front. He showed that he can play both ways.

So they had a very good partnership today, which is always going to be good, because your best ball strikers, if they can spend a lot of time at the crease and put bowlers under pressure, you're always going to stand a good chance of winning a game. I think the two of them, the way that they are striking the ball at the moment. Rassie had a fantastic hundred, albeit in a warmup game against Pakistan, the way that he hit the ball just showed the good form that he's in.

It was very nice for him to get on the park today. He had a bit of a stiff neck this morning, so there was slight doubt whether he was going to play so maybe that released the pressure for him as well, and so he went out and really just put the pressure on England.

Q. How can the domestic circuit in South Africa give more chance to youngsters and how will that impact on the national side?

MARK BOUCHER: Are talking about our domestic system? To be honest I haven't even really thought about that. I've been so focussed on trying to get the national team sort of going. So I think there's some clever heads back at home who are in control of that, and I'm sure that those decisions must be made in order for us to become better as a nation in the game of cricket, as well.

Yeah, look, honestly I haven't even thought about it yet. I think it's still very much in its starting stages and I'm sure time will tell whether it's a good thing or maybe not so good. I think it just needs a little bit of time to settle, and let's see what the results are.

Q. Obviously didn't end the way you wanted but a lot of positives to take away from this tournament and you have a big summer coming up with India at home. Do you think that getting home and everything that's going on, the focus can return to the cricket in South Africa and you can move forward as the Proteas are on the field?

MARK BOUCHER: I hope so. It has been tough. It's been tough on this team. I know that we are finding the headlines for the wrong reasons, and hopefully albeit we are out of World Cup, I think there were some great positives to take from this, the way that the guys played, the passion that they showed, the energy as a team. The guys have been really close behind closed doors, and you can see it just the way they are playing.

I think Temba needs a pat on the back as well. He's been fantastic in the team environment and has really led from the front as well.

Yes, this team is in a very good space at the moment. It might not come through in media every now and again, but I can guarantee you right now that they are very, very strong and together and hopefully that is reflecting on our performances and hopefully people can come and watch the guys and see it for themselves when we do get back home.