After a while we are back with yet another profile article of a cricketer and this time it is the great Wicket-keeper batter and the coach of the South Africa team Mark Boucher. Mark Boucher is one of the greatest Wicket-keepers of all time and he is among the Top 3 most catches taken in tests and ODIs. I loved watching him play and just knew if any batter edged a ball to him he would catch it 9 times out of 10. Mark Boucher had his career ended with a freak injury or else he could have gone to do greater things.
Mark Boucher is still after 10 years of retirement the greatest Wicket-keeper South Africa has ever seen and a role model for many young keepers who want to dominate world cricket today. He was also a very capable batter about which we will talk in another article. So, with all that being said let’s look at the Profile Stats and Records for Mark Boucher.
Profile
Personal Information
The full name of Mark Boucher is Mark Vedon Boucher and he was born on 3rd December 1976 in Eastern Cape in South Africa. Since he was a young boy Mark was very interested in cricket and especially wicketkeeping and the talent in him was seen at an early age and he was given the proper training and within 21 years of his birth he was playing for his nation. Mark Boucher was 5 ft 6 inches in height which means he was not the tallest Wicket-keeper but still he was one of the best to ever do it. He was also an occasional right arm medium pace bowler.
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International Information
Mark Boucher played international cricket for South Africa from 1997-2012 which is a very impressive 15 years at the very top of the game. His first test match was on 17th October 1997 against Pakistan and after 15 years he played his last test match vs Sri Lanka on 3rd January 2012. He was test cap number 267 for South Africa. He played his first ODI for South Africa vs New Zealand on 16th January 1998 and he had his last ODI match on 28th October 2011 vs Australia.
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Career Stats
Competition | Test Cricket | ODIs |
Matches | 147 | 295 |
Runs Scored | 5515 | 4696 |
Batting average | 30.30 | 28.57 |
100s/50s | 5/35 | 1/26 |
Top score | 125 | 147* |
Balls bowled | 8 | - |
Wickets | 1 | - |
Bowling average | 6.00 | - |
5 wickets in an innings | 0 | - |
10 wickets in a match | 0 | - |
Best bowling | 1/6 | - |
Catches/Stumpings | 532/23 | 403/22 |
Also Read | Greatest South African Cricketers of all time
Records
Most dismissals as a Wicket-keeper in all formats of the game- 999
Most Catches taken by a Wicket-keeper in all forms of international cricket – 952 catches
Most T20 innings without a duck- 76 innings
Most byes conceded by a Wicket-keeper in a T20I innings – 15 byes
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