Can Boucher be classified as an 'all-time great'

[Xuhaib]

Boucher's 32nd birthday is a few days away. He's going to set wicketkeeping records that may never be beaten and add to that his batting average is also pretty healthy doe a keeper. I know he will always remain under Gilly shadows but will he able to secure a place in an all-time 2nd XI or an all-time 3rd XI?

 

[Goughy]

Boucher's 32nd birthday is a few days away. He's going to set wicketkeeping records that may never be beaten and add to that his batting average is also pretty healthy doe a keeper. I know he will always remain under Gilly shadows but will he able to secure a place in an all-time 2nd XI or an all-time 3rd XI?

I dont think so.

He has always been a good servant of South African cricket and a very good player. He would be competing with the likes of Denis Lindsay for the SA alltime XI.

He was consistent, polished and professional with no shortage of ability to play the right innings at the right time. However, he is a notch below coming close to any World XIs.

Keepers he played with and against like Gilchrist, Dhoni, Stewart, Flower may be judged more favourably in time.

He is an alltime great in terms of service, longevity and records but but not an 'allstar'

Dont forget he was dropped for Thami Tsolekile at one point

 

[gettingbetter]

Boucher's 32nd birthday is a few days away. He's going to set wicketkeeping records that may never be beaten and add to that his batting average is also pretty healthy doe a keeper. I know he will always remain under Gilly shadows but will he able to secure a place in an all-time 2nd XI or an all-time 3rd XI?

I'd say so. You'd be hard pressed to say that someone like Muralia or Tendulkar - leading wicket taker and leading run scorer wouldn't be an all-time great. I know there can be statiscal arguements placed forth, but for a simple steak and peas arguement, he should be classified as an all-time great.

 

[Jakester1288]

It's amazing how good he is, very underrated. He will never go down as an alltime great, despite being one of the best keepers ever, and in the best few in South African history. He lacked something Gilchrist had though. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes him a bit more complete.

Statistic wise, he will be the best keeper in the game, for a fair while. But for everyone who has seen a variety of keepers, it is unlikely he will.

 

[fredfertang]

It's a fair call I reckon - particularly as he has a habit of scoring a disproportionate number of his runs in tricky circumstances (yesterday for example) - If you're measuring the value of his runs rather than the mere quantum then he's on a par with a 40+ batter

 

[Xuhaib]

It's amazing how good he is, very underrated. He will never go down as an alltime great, despite being one of the best keepers ever, and in the best few in South African history. He lacked something Gilchrist had though. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes him a bit more complete.

Statistic wise, he will be the best keeper in the game, for a fair while. But for everyone who has seen a variety of keepers, it is unlikely he will.

17 runs from his batting average and 30 runs from his striking rate.

 

[krkode]

Lots of keepers have a habit of occasionally chipping in with the bat with a useful innings. Especially in the last 2 decades where wicket-keeper batsman has become more of a norm. But Gilchrist was one of those who could genuinely be a match-winner. Which is why I wouldn't put Boucher at the same level as him. Still, as far as longevity and reliability go, he's done well. Even though he's the guy re-writing all the wicket-keeping record books I'm afraid he will always be put in the shadow of other wicket-keepers of his era, such as Healey, Gilchrist, and more recently Dhoni.

 

[Migara]

Boucher's keeping is not the greatest in the world. Hel never kept a Murali, Warne or a Kumble on a scuffed up wicket. Only time he kept to Murali (in super test in Sydney) he was a sorry tale, and was as clueless as Katich, Gilly and some other Aussies infront of the wicket. everybody thought Sangakkara should have replaced him at that time. Unless he proved great against spin, he's not with the top bracket keepers like Healy or Marsh. Currently IMO Boucher is behind in keeping skilles to both Haddin and P. Jayawardane, because he cannot keep to spinners well. May be keeping to Imran Tahir will get him up there some day.

 

[kingkallis]

Boucher's keeping is not the greatest in the world. Hel never kept a Murali, Warne or a Kumble on a scuffed up wicket. Only time he kept to Murali (in super test in Sydney) he was a sorry tale, and was as clueless as Katich, Gilly and some other Aussies infront of the wicket. everybody thought Sangakkara should have replaced him at that time. Unless he proved great against spin, he's not with the top bracket keepers like Healy or Marsh. Currently IMO Boucher is behind in keeping skilles to both Haddin and P. Jayawardane, because he cannot keep to spinners well. May be keeping to Imran Tahir will get him up there some day.

Dont agree! Its not his fault that SAF did not generate good spinners! Haddin is GOOD? You must be joking...and about Jayawardene! How many times did he keep wickets against Donald, Ntini, Steyn, Pollock?

Boucher surely will go down as one of the best, he is behind Gilly in all aspects though!

 

[analyst]

As a wicketkeeper, he certainly will go down as one of the great keepers of the modern generation. I don't follow arguments about which era would so and so have fared better in etc etc, because it is really impossible to judge. His peak form came from late 2005-now as a wicketkeeper-batsman. I rate him more of an ODI batsman than a test batsman, definitely deserves his place in South African history as their best keeper. I am sure Dave Richardson won't dispute it either.

 

[jondavluc]

Dont agree! Its not his fault that SAF did not generate good spinners! Haddin is GOOD? You must be joking...and about Jayawardene! How many times did he keep wickets against Donald, Ntini, Steyn, Pollock?

Boucher surely will go down as one of the best, he is behind Gilly in all aspects though!

Haddin was a fine wicketkeeper sadly he is getting too old.As for boucher well he is good and would be rated as the best wicketkeeper South Africa ever had but in the end there have being many better wicketkeepers than bouchy.

 

[satheeshv37]

Can Boucher be classified as an all time great?

I don't think so, Adam Gilchrist is my all time great Keeper...Boucher may come next to him.

 

[Precambrian]

Boucher will surely go down as one of the best and consistent keepers in history. And the number of dismissals he have is no fluke. I cannot understand arguments that he has not kept to Murali, or Kumble etc and hence he is not great. Bull ****. As good as arguing Ponting is not a good batsman because he never had to face McGrath or Warne. Boucher has put in masterly effort in the games he has played, and against bowlers he played with.

Perhaps the last of a dying breed, where keepers were in for keeping than batting, though his battnig wasn't half bad.

 

[subshakerz]

Worldclass keeper, but not all-time great.

 

[Migara]

Dont agree! Its not his fault that SAF did not generate good spinners! Haddin is GOOD? You must be joking...and about Jayawardene! How many times did he keep wickets against Donald, Ntini, Steyn, Pollock?

Boucher surely will go down as one of the best, he is behind Gilly in all aspects though!

So what was Donald or Steyn offering more than Malinga? probably 5k of more pace? So that makes him exceptionally good to keeping quicks? And mind you, Steyn, Ntini and Donald are terribly more accurate than Malinga, and Boucher has less diving around because they don't spray it around as Malinga. Then have a look at the stats how many byes that Jayawardane has given away.

Then about Bounce. What would you prefer?150k delivery at head height or 150k delivery just below tha knee?

According to your yardstick best keepr in test history is Jeff Dujon, because he kept to an attack much quicker than South African attack at any time in the history.

Keeping to pacemen is many times easier than keeping to spinners. Any one who has played bit of cricket will realize that.

 

[Migara]

Boucher will surely go down as one of the best and consistent keepers in history. And the number of dismissals he have is no fluke. I cannot understand arguments that he has not kept to Murali, or Kumble etc and hence he is not great. Bull ****. As good as arguing Ponting is not a good batsman because he never had to face McGrath or Warne. Boucher has put in masterly effort in the games he has played, and against bowlers he played with.

Perhaps the last of a dying breed, where keepers were in for keeping than batting, though his battnig wasn't half bad.

The only time he kept to Murali he looked daft. But when Gilchrist or Dhoni kept to him, they were poetry in motion. That is the bulls hit you fail to understand.

 

[Precambrian]

The only time he kept to Murali he looked daft. But when Gilchrist or Dhoni kept to him, they were poetry in motion. That is the bulls hit you fail to understand.

He could've had a bad day at office. 1 test is extremely poor to judge a keeper's ability.

That said, Boucher could have failed more had he kept to Murali and Kumble. Fact is he never did (except once), so we can hardly qualify that.

 

[Langeveldt]

I dont think so.

He has always been a good servant of South African cricket and a very good player. He would be competing with the likes of Denis Lindsay for the SA alltime XI.

He was consistent, polished and professional with no shortage of ability to play the right innings at the right time. However, he is a notch below coming close to any World XIs.

Keepers he played with and against like Gilchrist, Dhoni, Stewart, Flower may be judged more favourably in time.

He is an alltime great in terms of service, longevity and records but but not an 'allstar'

Dont forget he was dropped for Thami Tsolekile at one point

Totally agreed.. One of SA's greatest servants, but probably behind Flower, Gilchrist and Stewart in terms of all round class..

 

[Richard]

Dont agree! Its not his fault that SAF did not generate good spinners!

That doesn't matter. It's not a wicketkeeper's job to produce spin bowlers, so whether it's his fault that they weren't around is irrelevant.

Fact is, Boucher hasn't often kept to spin of any great standard. He's had the odd series in the subcontinent where the spin has been good (Boje in India in 2000/01, Harris in Pakistan in 2006/07, for example) and UIMM he's done a perfectly decent job in all.

However, he's not had the chance to keep to good spin very often. And unless you get the chance to prove yourself something, you can't prove it. The likes of Ian Healy and Kumar Sangakkara have had the chance to do a tougher job and have done it. Just like Dennis Lillee never got much of a chance to prove himself as a bowler on the subcontinent, Boucher never got much of a chance to prove himself an excellent 'keeper to spin. It's not their fault, but it's the way the cookie's crumbled for them, same way it was for all SAfrican cricketers of the 1970s and 1980s. I don't agree that he's a proven poor wicketkeeper against spin, but he's certainly not one of proven excellence.

As for who's the better batsman out of Denis Lindsay and Boucher? Lindsay, for me, with little doubt. I'd never really give Boucher much consideration for a SA all-time Test XI. There is absolutely no way he's one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen of all-time. He's a good one, but far from an exceptional one. Of those of his time alone, Alec Stewart, Kumar Sangakkara, Andy Flower and of course Adam Gilchrist are better by plenty. Then you think of the Dujons, Lindsays, Ameses, etc. throughout history. Boucher is a good modern wicketkeeper-batsman, who does what has been expected of a wicketkeeper-batsman for the last 20 years. But no more than that.