Proteas exodus looming? Boucher ominously tells CSA to keep key players 'interested'

Could the Proteas be on the cusp of a player exodus after the failed ICC T20 World Cup campaign?

While outgoing head coach Mark Boucher readily believes the team is in a decent position when it comes to future white-ball assignments, he rather disconcertingly intimated that Cricket South Africa (CSA) might have to engage - urgently perhaps even - with certain key men and gauge their ongoing "interest".

His tenure may have been dominated by off-field issues, but on the field the continued tension between stars who have to choose between national duty and the Indian Premier League blighted his results, particularly the series against Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

And with the appeal of 50-over cricket waning across the world, even the admittedly wobbly mission to qualify for next year's 50-over World Cup in India might not be enough of a dangling carrot to convince some to keep on going.

"We have to try and keep all the players interested in playing for South Africa. I think that's a big question that needs to be answered," said Boucher.

"Then hopefully they can put some good combinations together and create some good coaching staff around these guys. This T20 side has been together for quite some time, and that's when you start to win games as we have in the build-up to this and also at the start of the competition.

"People start looking at you and start saying, 'well, hold on, South Africa could actually win this'. It's a good position to be in."

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Already, speculation is growing that Quinton de Kock, who retired from Test cricket last year, is a prime candidate for becoming a free agent, while it's understood