Trio hit back at Conrad comments

	Mark Boucher: 'It has always been extremely difficult to play for my franchise in a season...I was fully prepared to put the franchise first and come back from India © AFP

The fractious departure of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince from the Cape Cobras continues to rumble on after the players hit back at comments from Cobras coach, Shukri Conrad, that they weren't good enough to play for the franchise.

However, Conrad has also responded to the newspaper article saying he was misquoted. "I was very upset with the tone of the report and the way in which it was written," Conrad told the Sapa agency. "The journalist involved has phoned me to apologise, and I expect an apology from the newspaper as well."

"I was asked whether, in view of the players' reaction, I would select the same team, and I said I had no qualms about my selection," said Conrad. "It would have been a different matter if it had been a four-day or a one-day game."

The trio have moved to the Warriors for the 2008-09 season, and it is believed that the decision to leave all three out of the Pro20 semi-final was a key factor in their move. They had agreed to return from the IPL for the domestic tournament, but Conrad told them their services wouldn't be required.

"I could never choose Kallis ahead of Graeme Smith or Andrew Puttick at the Cobras, because Puttick was one of our best players in the Pro20 in recent times," Conrad told Sondag. "I could also not choose Kallis ahead of Herschelle Gibbs at number three."

"I'm not losing sleep over the matter," he added. "Kallis and Boucher have never in the past had an inclination to play for us anyway. Why do you want to leave the franchise because you were not included in one game anyway? And that after you never played for us in the past."

"Jacques played for us once in the last 78 matches and Boucher has never even been at one of our practices."

Boucher responded that the move to the Warriors was more than just about the single game, and there was a general disenchantment about the direction the Cobras were heading.

"The three of us have chatted about Shukri's statements and we are all angry," Boucher said. "There are a number of reasons behind our decision to leave. The fact that we weren't considered for selection despite being available is just the last straw. We are unhappy about a lot of things at the franchise, but when we made the decision to leave we decided to be dignified about it and not to make the reasons public."

"The fact that Shukri sees fit to take cheap shots at us in the media is seriously disappointing. It makes us think that perhaps we should have made our reasons public.

"I'd also like to set the record straight regarding my past availability. It has always been extremely difficult to play for my franchise in a season when there was such a hectic international schedule and I was required to play all three formats of the game for South Africa. So when an opportunity did come up I was fully prepared to put the franchise first and come back from India. To simply be told 'don't bother' is a slap in the face."

Both Prince and Kallis echoed Boucher's comments. "I'm really disappointed to be leaving Western Province," said Prince. "I've been here for about ten years but the last few years things have changed and I'm unhappy about staying. The professionalism is not like it used to be."

"Like Ashwell I've been a Western Province man for many years" added Kallis. "I grew up playing here. For Shukri to say that I'm leaving because I wasn't selected for one game is nonsense. The reasons go much deeper than that."

The players have also received the backing of Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers' Association. "These are some of the best players in the world," he said. "So to say that they aren't good enough is ludicrous. Each of them had also been prepared to travel back from India to play for the Cobras in the Pro20 semi-final and to miss the first few matches of the IPL, which would have involved a substantial cash penalty. This is how committed they were."