[ad_1]
- Proteas coach Mark Boucher has answered questions related to a number of off-field issues facing South African cricket.
- Boucher is comfortable with the progress made in addressing the conversation around Black Lives Matter.
- The Proteas are set to play their first cricket in nine months when they host England in a limited series of overs.
Since the coronavirus pandemic brought the sport to a standstill in March, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been through one of the most difficult periods in its history.
An organization without leadership suffered an administrative collapse that is far from being resolved, the pandemic threatened the livelihoods of everyone involved in the game, and in July the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement rocked South African cricket as former players se presented with stories of a historically problematic and not always inclusive system.
Fueled by the opening words of young sprinter Lungi Ngidi, South African cricket was forced to take a hard look at itself and how, in the past, it created systems and cultures that did not provide equal opportunities.
Later in July, all of the players, coaches, and managers involved in CSA’s 3TC product at Centurion knelt in support of BLM, while in August, head coach Mark Boucher and the Proteas attended a cultural camp at Skukuza where they had frank conversations about where they had come from, culturally, and where they wanted to go.
Now, for the first time in nine months, the Proteas are ready to take the field when they host England in three T20s and then three ODIs between November 27 and December 9.
“Everything happens for a reason and we had some tough issues to deal with in our Skukuza camp and we solved them, which was great,” Boucher said when addressing the media Thursday.
“We are dealing with some difficult problems that governments around the world have failed to address.
“I am very happy with the situation the guys are in at the moment. We started from scratch, we restructured our values and we built from the beginning.”
Boucher has had conversations with Ngidi about the Proteas and his position at BLM and they are both satisfied that the Proteas are on the right track.
More important than making grand gestures, says Boucher, is living a culture of inclusion and respect.
“It’s a growing process and something we continue to seek to improve on,” he said.
“It’s an ongoing thing for us. It’s not something we have to keep demonstrating, I think it’s more of something you have to experience and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do in our dressing room right now.
“Our new value system is about respect, empathy and belonging, and I think all of that leads to an environment where kids feel free and open to talk about these difficult topics.”
Chances are high, then, that the Proteas won’t get to their knees before the first ball of the first T20 at Newlands on November 27.
As Boucher says, there are other issues at stake as well.
At the request of President Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African flag will fly at half mast in the first Q20 in mourning for the victims of gender-based violence and the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa. Proteas could also wear black armbands.
“We are going to address this with the team, so if there is a black armband to wear, it will be because of the call from the president,” Boucher said.
Boucher also acknowledged the administrative problems that CSA currently faces.
“CSA’s problems are there,” he said.
“We have to try to put that behind us. We understand that we are in a position to bring good news to the game in our country.
“If we start to play a good brand of cricket and lead from the front in that perspective, hopefully we can change a couple of perceptions about the game in our country.”
Boucher confirmed that a player from the current squad had tested positive for coronavirus and was no longer at the team hotel.
It was important, the coach added, to recognize the “care factor” when it came to dealing with the coronavirus and not just look at what it meant to the team.
“Covid is something that is in the world and we have to live with that,” Boucher said.
“There will be times when kids get infected with covid … it’s not ideal, but it affects everyone.
“I think there are more important things in life than a sports team … there are families involved.
“There’s a bigger picture of all this. It’s a very real situation and yes, it affects us, but it’s more about the well-being of those players and taking care of them from a mental perspective.
Boucher himself tested positive for the coronavirus in July.
