Boucher replacement job: Who fits the bill and can they take the Proteas forward?

Cricket South Africa(CSA), stumped by Mark Boucher's sudden decision to resign, does not have a lot of time to respond.

The organisation has been gently steering itself away from its administrative chaos in the past six months, and they will now have to put their heads together in search of a new coach for the men's national team.

Pre-World Cup resignations aren't new in the world of cricket, but that's the chaos generally reserved for the likes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Now, the Proteas have some tricky International Cricket Council waters they need to navigate in the form of the Australia tour over December which counts for World Test Championship points.

READ | Transparency key to finding Boucher's replacement: 'That was lacking when Mark was appointed

There's also the significant matter of ICC Men's Super League ODIs to worry about, especially with the points that have been dropped and the matches that remain.

The Proteas still have to play India away, and the Netherlands and England at home - and in the manner with which they have played, points from those games aren't guaranteed.

Failure there will push the Proteas towards the World Cup qualifiers, which can, and will, be difficult.

Whoever gets the coaching gig will have a mountain to climb. Here, we look at some of the realistic candidates:

Lance Klusener

Klusener, who is currently the batting coach of an improving Zimbabwe side, has more than enough domestic and international experience to take on this task.

Covid-19 got in the way of his Afghanistan coaching gig that would have given prospective employers a fair idea of how good he really is.

Teams like Afghanistan are generally measured not just on results, but on player development.

That's something Klusener excelled in