Head coach Mark Boucher has reflected on a ‘disappointing’ summer for the Proteas.

South Africa’s 2019-20 season was marred by Test and T20I series defeats by England. The Proteas then lost another T20I series to Australia. Their ODI series against the Australians, though, yielded a 3-0 win.

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‘If I look back and have had a bit of time to reflect on the summer, I think it is quite disappointing to be honest, especially against England,’ said Boucher.

‘We didn’t perform as we wanted to perform. In saying that, as a new coaching staff, we asked some questions and got some answers – some good, some bad.

‘The light at the end of the tunnel was our performances in limited-overs cricket. We have a lot of work to do with our Test cricket, still. We have a lot of rebuilding to do.’

The Proteas debuted batsmen Kyle Verreynne and Janneman Malan during the ODI series against the Aussies. The Warriors’ Jon-Jon Smuts and Titans’ Heinrich Klaasen also featured.

‘The exciting thing for me was more about the white-ball cricket. We gave opportunities to some of the youngsters and they have really started to gel together nicely as a team,’ add Boucher.

‘Our performances against Australia in the ODIs, yes, were the light toward the end of the tunnel. But there is still a hang of a lot of work to do.’

March’s ODI series in India was aborted as a preventative measure against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The first ODI in Dharamsala was washed out without a ball bowled. The second and third in Lucknow and Kolkata, respectively, did not go ahead.

‘We didn’t get to play against India in India. That’s unfortunate, as it would have been nice to judge ourselves as a young side against them,’ concluded Boucher.

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