‘Straight-talking’ Mark Boucher looking to upset England again

Midway through the third Test of South Africa’s tour of England in 2008, Kevin Pietersen went berserk. He had made mincemeat of the Proteas’ attack and had the Edgbaston crowd bouncing. Alongside Paul Collingwood, Pietersen had catapulted England’s lead to 136 and threatened to triple it. South Africa needed a breakthrough. That’s when Mark Boucher – then South Africa’s wicketkeeper, now South Africa’s coach – devised a cunning plan.

“Bouch told me he wanted me to swear at KP,” remembers Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner with 103 Test wickets. “I didn’t need a second invite. KP was on 94 and Bouch figured he’d want to reach his ton with a six. So the plan was to play on his ego a bit, get him angry.”

So it began. Makhaya Ntini bowled the next over and Harris and Boucher tore into Pietersen. His first ball against Harris, Pietersen charged down the wicket and unfurled an ugly hack. He struck it well but not out of the middle. It flew flat and hard and straight to AB de Villiers who was pushed further back at mid-on. Pietersen fell into the trap.

“That moment sums up Mark Boucher,” Harris says. “He’s a prickly character and can rub people up the wrong way. He’s like Marmite. I love him but other people don’t. He seems like he just wants a scrap but he has a deeply intelligent cricket brain. He can read the situation before anyone and will do anything to win. I’m convinced that turned the game and the series.”

The match was won thanks to a fourth-innings 154 not out by Graeme Smith, well supported by an unbeaten 45 from Boucher. That series win served as a catalyst for a golden generation that would go on to claim the No 1 spot on the ICC’s Test rankings. Numerous world-class talents played their role, but Boucher’s tirade