believes that “the more you tighten the rope, it’s going to snap at some time”.
And that is the approach his bowlers are taking in Test cricket.
Boucher took charge of his first five-day match against England last weekend and beat the old foes by 107 runs at Centurion Park.
What was remarkable in the match was the discipline with which fast bowlers Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Dwaine Pretorius bowled.
Led by Philander who restricted England to just 16 runs in 14.2 first-innings overs, while taking four wickets, the Proteas were at their stingy best throughout the Test.
STINGY: Vernon Philander. Picture: Cathrine Kotze/BackpagePix.
As Boucher says: “You can always look at the run rate and see how you bowled...
“We knew that the more you tighten the rope, it’s going to snap at some time.”
As a unit, South Africa conceded 3.39 runs per over in the first innings and a much improved 2.88 in the second.
The frustration led to Quinton de Kock taking six catches behind the wicket - the most in an innings in his Test career.
And captain Faf du Plessis explains: “To keep a very strong England team to a 2.6 run rate [on the final day] for pretty much the whole day, means that we did the basics really well - we made sure that they don’t go anywhere.
“Our plan was to just keep it tight and then hoping that the new ball will do the talk and that’s what happened.”
CONSTANT THREAT: Anrich Nortje. Picture: Cathrine Kotze/BackpagePix.
While the approach is not exactly a new one, it is a change from how the Proteas tried to blow away their opponents with pace under ex-coach Ottis Gibson.
In Gibson’s last Test in South Africa against Pakistan earlier this year, SA also won by 107 runs.
In that match, they conceded runs at an average of 3.72 in the first innings and 4.15 in the second.
Shortly before Boucher took over, South Africa travelled to India where they lost all three Test matches under then-interim coach Enoch Nkwe.
There they conceded 4.26 runs per over in the final Test against their hosts.
HEAVY ARTILLERY: Kagiso Rabada. Picture: Cathrine Kotze/BackpagePix.
Therefore, the changes made by Boucher and the rest of his coaching staff are already visible.
Let’s hope they can kick on from this in the second Test which starts at Newlands on Friday.