Mark Boucher’s International career in numbers

Words fall short in the description of Mark Boucher’s commitment and grit behind the stumps who known for his flaws at the start of his career but his determination and temperament helped him to succeed at the highest level. He stood behind the wickets for South Africa for 15 years and added value with the bat in middle and lower down the order. An injury to his eye while keeping wickets in a warm-up game brought an unfortunate end to his career when he was only two away from completing 1000 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in International cricket.

On occasion of Mark Boucher’s 41st birthday, we look his International career records.

10 – Mark Boucher was the first South African to hit 10 sixes in an ODI innings and even the first in an International inning. He struck ten sixes against Zimbabwe during his 147* knock in 2006. Richard Levi in T20I cricket, AB de Villiers (twice) and Quinton de Kock in ODIs recorded 10+ sixes in an inning.

15 – Boucher holds the unfortunate record of conceding the most number of byes in a T20I game. He conceded 15 byes against Windies in 2008 T20I in Johannesburg which are also the most in any Twenty20 game by a keeper.

19 – His 19-ball fifty against Kenya in 2001/02 was the then fastest by a South African in ODI cricket. AB de Villiers’ 16-ball fifty and Justin Kemp with a 19-ball half century became only other South Africans with an ODI fifty in less than 20 balls. Boucher has a total of seven ODI fifties coming in less than 30 balls while no other South African has more than two such fifties.

44 – Boucher’s 44-ball hundred in 2006 against Zimbabwe is the 4th fastest century in ODI cricket till date and the 2nd fastest by a South African after De Villiers’ 31-ball effort. It was the 2nd fastest hundred and the fastest by a South African in the ODI format back in 2006.

402 – His 402 catches in ODI cricket as wicketkeeper are the 2nd most behind Adam Gilchrist’s 417. No other keeper has taken 400 catches in this format.

424 – Boucher’s 424 keeping dismissals in ODI cricket are the 3rd most for any player till date. Only Kumar Sangakkara (482) and Adam Gilchrist (472) affected more dismissals in this format than Boucher.

461 – Boucher’s 461 appearances in International cricket for South Africa are the most after Jacques Kallis’ 513 games. He appeared in 146 matches in Test cricket the 2nd most for South Africa after Kallis (165). His 290 ODI appearances for his country are also the 3rd mos after Kallis (324) and Shaun Pollock (294).

467 – Mark Boucher played a total of 468 matches in his International career including the games for World XI and Africa XI out of which he played 467 as a wicketkeeper. The only game he didn’t play as a keeper was against Windies in an ODI in 2010.

532 – Number of catches he pouched in his Test career. No other wicketkeeper took even 400 catches in this format.

555 – Boucher’s dismissals as a wicketkeeper in Test cricket. He is the only player with 500 dismissals in this format. Adam Gilchrist affected 416 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in his Test career.

952 – His 952 catches in International cricket as a wicketkeeper are easily the most for any player. Adam Gilchrist (813) is the only other player with 600+ catches across all formats while keeping the wickets.

998 – His 998 dismissals are the most for any wicketkeeper in International cricket. With 905 dismissals as a keeper across formats, Gilchrist comes next to Boucher.