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 JOHANNESBURG,
(AFP) : The row over the omission of Jacques Kallis from South
Africa's World Twenty20 team deepened on Wednesday when wicketkeeper
Mark Boucher was summoned to a disciplinary hearing over comments he
made criticising the decision.
Cricket South Africa said Boucher would have to attend a hearing
Friday on five counts of breaching the body's rules and code of
conduct following comments attributed to him in a newspaper article.
Boucher was quoted by the Business Day newspaper as suggesting there
were ulterior motives for Kallis being left out. "It is either those
who have an issue with him, and have a chip on their shoulders, or
those who have ulterior motives." He did not elaborate.
Boucher said of Kallis, who resigned as South African vice-captain
after being left out: "He's the best all-rounder we've ever had and
he's saved more (limited overs) games than anyone realises - and he is
a far better one-day player than he is given credit for."
He poured scorn on recent allegations about excessive drinking in the
camp and the existence of a senior players' clique.
"In my off-season I have been doing some building on my house and
reading about my being an alcoholic," he said. "I see pictures of
myself and Herschelle (Gibbs) sitting at a pool-side bar and the
accompanying article talks about how drinking is out of hand. It's all
ridiculous."
Boucher, 30, a veteran of 102 Tests and 250 one-day internationals,
was unapologetic about reports of a clique of senior players.
"Who do we want running things, the senior players or the junior
players?" he asked. "When I first started out and I would see Hansie
Cronje, Brian McMillan, Allan Donald, Gary Kirsten and Jonty Rhodes
chatting together, I would simply think 'Oh, the senior guys are
having a chat. That's fine. It's a good sign if the guys are getting
together to discuss things - five heads are better than one'."
Unlike Kallis, his close friend and business partner, Boucher was
picked in the Twenty20 squad but he was lukewarm about the tournament,
to be staged in South Africa next month.
"First prize for those of us who love cricket is to be Test world
champions. Second prize is to be 50-over world champions. Twenty20
only comes after those, really," he said.
Cricket SA announced Boucher would be charged under clauses relating
to "unbecoming or detrimental conduct", making comments detrimental to
the game, to a particular tournament or match, and critical of the
selection of a team.
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