• Proteas coach Mark Boucher said they spread the batting coach load through the Test series in the absence of a specific batting coach.
• Neil McKenzie is Cricket South Africa high-performance batting lead, but works with all the teams.
• Boucher said their fielding let them down.

Proteas coach Mark Boucher hinted at the need for a permanent batting coach after South Africa’s repeated failures against Pakistan.

While Neil McKenzie is Cricket South Africa’s high-performance batting lead, he works with all the national teams.

Jacques Kallis’s stint with England during their successful Sri Lankan sojourn raised opprobrium in South Africa, especially after the legendary all-rounder expressed his sadness with regards to not being able to work with SA because of Cricket South Africa’s transformation policies.

Boucher, who played with Kallis, said before SA went to Pakistan that he would have loved to have Kallis on the staff roster.

Boucher, fielding coach Justin Ontong and assistant coach Enoch Nkwe had shared the batting coach duties in Pakistan.

“I worked with the guys technically. Justin also takes a few of the batters as well, but we don’t have a specific batting coach. We’d all have a look at the guys and see how we can help,” Boucher said.

While the batting failures have been consistently and rightly highlighted, Boucher said South Africa’s fielding was the biggest let-down.

SA’s varied bowling attack created opportunities in both Tests, but crucial catches were dropped and allowed Pakistan to get away with the game and by extension, the series.

“I thought our bowling was fantastic on this tour. The big difference was fielding,” he said.

“Look at this game; in the second innings where they were 80/5 and we have two dropped chances in two balls. That’s 80/7 with the tail in and no front-line batsman. We bowl them out for 120/150 and we’re chasing less and we win the game. The big moments really cost us and the match awareness of when to turn on the screws.

“Pakistan took some fantastic catches when they came their way. We didn’t bat well, didn’t field well but our bowling was something that really stood out. We had some really great spells. We created opportunities, but we didn’t take them. In this game, it cost us about 150 runs.”

Source: News24