A ton for the unsung hero
Stats highlights of Mark Boucher's career of 100 Tests
Kanishkaa Balachandran
11-Jan-2007
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Mark Boucher shares an affinity with Pakistan. In October 1997, an injury to Dave Richardson gave him an emergency call-up to the tour of Pakistan. His debut at Sheikhupura was as unspectacular as the match itself, facing 11 balls before an Azhar Mahmood yorker sent his middle stump cartwheeling. With Richardson's impending retirement, the search was on for a successor, and in the tour of Australia that followed, Richardson virtually warmed the seat for the promising wicketkeeper.
The return series by Pakistan the following year made Boucher's career, both as a batsman and a 'keeper. Such was his impact on that series that he went on to play 75 consecutive Tests, a South African record. Against the same opposition nine years later, he has two milestones to look forward to, one of which is guaranteed. He will be the fourth South African to play 100 Tests, and is two catches away from breaking Ian Healy's world record of 366 catches, the most by any wicketkeeper. In terms of total dismissals, including stumpings, he has 380, behind Healy (395) and Adam Gilchrist (381).
He is also the third wicketkeeper to play 100 Tests - including the one-off Super Test against Australia in 2005 - after Healy and Alec Stewart. The table below lists Boucher's progression, and his first ten games were indicative of his proficiency behind the stumps.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is editorial assistant of Cricinfo. For some stats he was helped by Satish Kumar