Miscellaneous cricket talk

[Media Park]

Couple of random stories:

Mark Boucher's tour over due to eye surgery after copping a bail in the eye.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-s ... 71732.html

Tatenda Taibu's retired from cricket (second time I believe) to devote his life to the church.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe/co ... tlook_news

[scoob]

Michelle Johnson admits he was scared of the barmy army... not anymore his tattoos make him feel heaps tougher.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ba ... 6422163134

[Interceptor]

Michelle Johnson admits he was scared of the barmy army... not anymore his tattoos make him feel heaps tougher.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ba ... 6422163134

No wonder he didn't take any Pfeiffers

[The Dark Knight]

Michelle Johnson admits he was scared of the barmy army... not anymore his tattoos make him feel heaps tougher.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ba ... 6422163134

Well Sleeve tattoos do make you tougher...

[test]

I'm not sure what's worse, being scared of drunken Poms over the fence or actually admitting it....

[Media Park]

Boucher officially retires, unsure if he will have sight in his left eye again.

AB deVilliers will be the keeper for the first Test, yet to determine if a replacement keeper will be flown over.

[Squids]

Boucher was very very unlucky,

Tahir the spud.

[Moe]

I'm not sure what's worse, being scared of drunken Poms over the fence or actually admitting it....

Admitting it.
What is there to be scared of?
I have loathed this guy for a while now, and this confirms to me that he has the heart the size of a carraway seed.

[Media Park]

Boucher was very very unlucky,

Tahir the spud.

Only ball Tahir will bowl on the wickets all series- you watch!

[Booney]

Boucher has retired from all cricket I had thought?

Bloody serious injury.

[CoverKing]

Boucher has retired from all cricket I had thought?

Bloody serious injury.

He is!

[Media Park]

Boucher has retired from all cricket I had thought?

Bloody serious injury.

He was likely to retire after this England series, now the choice has been made for him.

Thami Tsolelike named replacement now.

[the joker]

He had already announced his retirement after this series

[The Dark Knight]

How many tests has Boucher played in a row/how many has he missed over his career? I don't remember him missing too many.

[Media Park]

Played 75 consecutive Tests, then Tsolekile played, after that another 72 straight (would have broken his own PB with this series).

The only wicketkeepers used other than Boucher since his debut were Richardson (who he initially supplanted), AB Devilliers and Tsolekile.

He was a long term vice captain, and did take on the Captaincy for four matches in 2002, three matches against Australia, and one against Bangladesh, tasting both ends of the spectrum, his first captaincy outing Gilchrist smashed his infamous 200, and in his third match, he hit the winning runs as South Africa chased down 335 in the fourth innings.

Stats:
Mark Boucher 147 Tests, 295 ODIs, 25 T20Is= 467 international games, 999 dismissals (one was a catch as an outfielder in the game he took his only international wicket), so 998 dismissals as a wicketkeeper, 10469 international runs.

Records:
Holds all South African wicketkeeping records, which is no shock.
Most Test Dismissals: 555, next best 416
Took six catches in an innings on four occasions
Made nine dismissals in a match on three occasions
Third highest ever dismissals in a series: 26 (record is 28)
Most catches: 532 (next best is 379)
Sitting a lowly 13th on stumpings, not surprising with the dominant pace attack.
He played a full five Test series against the West Indies without conceding a bye (not sure if this is a record, but it wouldn't shock me).

Fair to say he was my favourite cricketer, so I enjoyed writing down these stats!

[Lightning McQueen]

What was his batting average MP?

[scoob]

World Class MP?

[The Dark Knight]

Played 75 consecutive Tests, then Tsolekile played, after that another 72 straight (would have broken his own PB with this series).

The only wicketkeepers used other than Boucher since his debut were Richardson (who he initially supplanted), AB Devilliers and Tsolekile.

He was a long term vice captain, and did take on the Captaincy for four matches in 2002, three matches against Australia, and one against Bangladesh, tasting both ends of the spectrum, his first captaincy outing Gilchrist smashed his infamous 200, and in his third match, he hit the winning runs as South Africa chased down 335 in the fourth innings.

Stats:
Mark Boucher 147 Tests, 295 ODIs, 25 T20Is= 467 international games, 999 dismissals (one was a catch as an outfielder in the game he took his only international wicket), so 998 dismissals as a wicketkeeper, 10469 international runs.

Records:
Holds all South African wicketkeeping records, which is no shock.
Most Test Dismissals: 555, next best 416
Took six catches in an innings on four occasions
Made nine dismissals in a match on three occasions
Third highest ever dismissals in a series: 26 (record is 28)
Most catches: 532 (next best is 379)
Sitting a lowly 13th on stumpings, not surprising with the dominant pace attack.
He played a full five Test series against the West Indies without conceding a bye (not sure if this is a record, but it wouldn't shock me).

Fair to say he was my favourite cricketer, so I enjoyed writing down these stats!

Great work MP and thank you.

And that you've mentioned it, Gillys 204 not out at Johannesburg, 2001-02, was sensational!!! I remember watching that like it was yesterday and have great memories of it. I was 10 years old but doesn't fell like 10 years ago!

[Media Park]

What was his batting average MP?

Test 30.30
ODI 28.57
T20i who really cares?

World Class MP?

As a wicketkeeper I would definitely say yes, if you picked an all-time World XI then with all the all-rounders a keeper could bat 8, and his numbers are fine for 8.

Realistically though he wouldn't make it over your Gilchrist-type player.

[The sarge]

Quality Keeper and more than handy bat especially when he was coming in at 8 for a period of time.

De Villiers looks set to take over with the gloves, handy replacement but losing probably the best fielder in the world to keep!!