'We need to fill up the cracks'

Mark Boucher has had a close-up view of the changing face of South African cricket from behind the stumps. In this interview, he recognises the cracks that the team has to fill in order to bounce back, and he tells Nagraj Gollapudi that he has no intention of sharing his childhood dream of keeping wickets with anybody:

Are you unsettled with the way things are going at the moment?
Obviously, we haven't been performing like we should and we are disappointed. We are like the glass which is empty because there are a few cracks at the bottom, and as long as we don't fill up those cracks we cannot be the best side in the world. The work ethic is good and the guys are working hard - but we are making some silly mistakes. Once we achieve a win, we will be back to the winning habit.

Can you identify the cracks?
What I mean by cracks is actually gaps - you don't lose Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and Gary Kirsten and expect suitable replacements overnight. We have got players who have got the potential to replace those world-class performers - especially in the one-day games - but they have not played enough and performed as we would have liked them to on the international stage. But we are going to stick with them and hopefully this is the perfect stage for them to come through and make a name for themselves and grow in confidence as they play against the best.

Do you think there was a comfort zone in the team?
We have found ourselves in a hole which we can't seem to get out of. And in the way that we practise and the way we analyse before matches, any comfort zone will be thrown out of the window.

Bob Woolmer talked about South Africa going for youth with experience, rather than youth plus experience which great sides always went for ...
Well, it's all very well to say that you need to have youthful guys with experience, but we have lost guys who can't be replaced. At the moment, we feel there are a few players, obviously young, who can do well - there have been a lot of instances in world cricket where players have come to the circuit at a very young age and have come through very quickly. So, it might take our youngsters many games to come through, but our selectors have their faith.

Mike Finnigan is counselling the team once again like he did after last year's NatWest Series loss to England. What kind of difference does he make?
Mike is a bubbly sort who always brings smiles to the guys' faces. Cricket is a driven game, and what he does is open up the minds and the way you think. Like I talked about the gaps or cracks - he has managed to fill up one or two of the mental cracks. It's just the way he does things that makes a difference. You can just sit in a meeting and listen to a guy - you can take some and throw out some of what a psychologist says, it can be very boring. Now Mike brings across the message by letting you talk, he doesn't do much talking. And when he does talk, he gives examples of names who he has worked with, like the ace snooker player Jimmy White, Darren Clarke, the golfer - guys that you know, who you watch on TV - and he gives you little insights into what they talked about. So he gets the message across in an interesting way, and gets your attention.

Talking about getting the message across, Graeme Smith always speaks his mind when he talks. Do you agree with his approach?
He is a nice character, up-front, never scared to go into battle. He is very young, so there is a lot of exuberance that gets shown in the way he talks and does things - he is just acting out his character. As he gets older, he will learn a lot of things. I know that he went out of his way to talk to Stephen Fleming, his New Zealand counterpart, who is a good captain as well. So he is keen to learn, he knows his way, wants to go his way forward - but he also realises that sometimes maybe his way isn't the only way, and that is a great trait to have.

Can his exuberance work against the team?
No, I don't think that it can be harmful, as long as it's channelled in the right direction. People talk about how the results are not coming and about his captaincy, but I don't think that's right. It's just that we might be playing the odd stupid stroke or the bowlers are delivering a bad spell, but that has nothing to do with the captain's approach.

You're one of the senior players now - what changes have you noticed from the time you came into the team?
It's difficult to really explain the changes. I came into the side as a junior guy, and I don't think any other country has been through what South African cricket has gone through: first the Hansie Cronje match-fixing episode, then Hansie's death, and the World Cup disappointments in 1999 and 2003. So there have been cracks in the mental side of our game and so, yes, we are going through a transition. Its difficult for me to spotlight the actual changes, as there have been so many - small changes and big ones. Change of the captain is a big one - from Hansie to Shaun to Graeme - then changing the coach from Bob Woolmer to Graeme Ford to Eric Simons is another big difference.

And how far have you progressed personally?
At the beginning of my career, I didn't know what it took to become an international cricketer. I don't think any youngster can walk in and say I know what it takes. No. Your life changes, there is lot more dedication that has to go into being successful, you have to be a role model for others, and you have to keep doing that for years together and go home in a happy state of mind. Now I know what it takes to play international cricket and stay there.

How about your batting? In your first 25 Tests, you scored three hundreds, but none in the last 50 or so ...
When I first came into the side, I was more of a batter than a keeper. And it's tough doing both. I sort of assumed the allrounder's role. Then I concentrated more on my keeping and my batting got affected, though my keeping improved a lot. So I have to work more on my batting and even though I am batting lower down, I need to score big hundreds. South Africa have a an experienced lower order in Shaun, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje and myself, each capable of batting in any position - we just need to change our mindset and set ourselves certain goals. We have done it before.

So have you set any goals?
Yes, but not statistical ones. I want to go out into the middle and try and control what I can. What I tell myself is if I get into the twenties or thirties, then I am not giving it away; I'd rather let them get me out than give my wicket away.

How about your wicketkeeping: is there a lot of strain on you, keeping in both forms of the game?
I don't think so. Wicketkeepers need to have two sides to their game these days - batting and keeping. That's why there are so few specialist keepers in the world now. Obviously, you need to be at your peak fitness-wise - and so far, touch wood, I have had no problems. So it's not a burden keeping wicket in both forms.

Is there anyone back in South Africa to relieve you if you need a break?
I have heard about a couple of them, but there has been such a lot of chopping and changing in our A squad that it is difficult to gauge how good anyone is. And I have not seen any of them, so I can't comment much. But there is a good piece of advice I got once from Jack Russell, the former English keeper, who told me, "Never ever give a chance to the guy behind you." Obviously, I want to play as many games for South Africa as possible - it was my dream as a schoolboy and I don't want to give up that dream.

When you were appointed as Pollock's vice-captain, you must have thought that somewhere down the line you might lead the side?
There was talk, but only from circles that didn't really know what was going on inside the actual side. I never ever wanted the job fulltime. I always thought being a keeper and batting are both tough jobs. I have seen keepers trying to lead sides, and how hard it has been for them. I can handle a temporary job as the captain, but not on a permanent basis. If someone comes up to me and says "Mark, do you want to captain South Africa?" I would have to think ... Although it would be an honour to lead the country, at the end of the day I know my workload is big enough, so it is sensible to do my basic job properly.

And finally, what are your expectations for the Champions Trophy?
If we beat both Bangladesh and the West Indies, who themselves are going through a transition, we are in the semi-finals. And once you are on a winning streak, winning becomes a habit. We believe we have the players and the energy to win games, and that means beating the best as well.