Boucher has mixed feelings over tour cancellation

Mark Boucher has admitted to having mixed feelings over South Africa's decision to cancel their tour of Pakistan. The South Africans were scheduled to depart for Pakistan on Sunday, but the board pulled out of the tour on Saturday in the wake of a bomb blast in an office block in Karachi on Friday. "It's a sad thing for an international cricket tour to be called off because it's not safe for players in a different country," Boucher told Wisden CricInfo.

"I feel sorry for the Pakistanis. Apart from the Bangladesh tour they haven't been able to play a home series for ages, and I know we wouldn't enjoy having to play all of our matches away from home. Some of our guys who haven't played in the sub-continent are missing out, but I'm sure they will get the chance again."

That said, the cancellation couldn't have come at a better time for Boucher and his team-mates. "We've just come off a long tour, three months away in England," Boucher said. "We had 10 days between the tours. That's just about enough time to get your washing done and start packing again. That's what I mean when I say I have mixed feelings about it."

However, Boucher was at pains to point out that the team was committed to the tour before the Karachi blast. "It wasn't the players' decision [to pull out of the tour], it was the UCB' s," he said. "The players were worried because there was a safety issue, but we were ready to go." The cancellation followed an earlier decision to proceed with the tour that was taken after a UCB safety delegation visited Pakistan. That decision was conditional on the security situation in the country not deteriorating before or during the tour. "We agreed that if the risk assessment changed the decision to go would be reconsidered," Boucher insisted.

The chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association, Tony Irish, was quoted in a Sunday newspaper as saying the players were "hugely relieved" the tour had not gone ahead. Boucher confirmed that view. "Let's not beat around the bush, the sub-continent isn't the best place to tour," he said candidly. "There is a big culture change and you are confined to your hotel most of the time. But it is an important part of a player's development. It does your skill levels the world of good to play there."

Boucher said he would make productive use of most of his unexpected time off. "I think I'm going to play a bit of golf, and I'm looking forward to doing some pre-season training with Border. It's an opportunity for us to play in our domestic competitions, because as national players we have a responsibility to our provinces as well." Followers of provincial cricket, at least, will not feel short-changed by the international non-event. "Our first match is against Western Province, which means you'll have Makhaya Ntini, Monde Zondeki and Charles Langeveldt up against Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis," Boucher said.