Mark Boucher lauds Quinton de Kock's captaincy; believes he has a unique and smart cricketing brain

Mark Boucher has hailed Quinton de Kock’s captaincy potential, stating that the swashbuckling southpaw leads the team very well on the field and possesses a very smart cricketing brain.

De Kock was installed as the ODI skipper, replacing Faf du Plessis, and took charge of his first series as captain of South Africa against England which ended in a draw. Boucher has been impressed by the treble responsibility of wicket-keeping, captaincy, and opening that De Kock has embraced, and believes that the increased load of responsibility is something that will be sustainable for the 26-year-old.

The former wicket-keeper also spoke about how De Kock is enjoying the additional responsibility, whilst stating that he sometimes “feels helpless” sitting in the dressing room during Test matches as he wants to be doing something “all the time”. Boucher also said that De Kock is a brilliant leader on the field and the only things which might really get to him are off-field shenanigans – something the management are going to help him avoid.

"Quinny enjoys being in the game. Sometimes he sits in the dressing room during Test-match cricket and he gets really irritated because he wants to be doing something all the time. I think he really enjoys it,” Boucher said.

“The off-the-field stuff is the stuff that might get to him a bit. We're going to have to help him in that regard. But certainly, on the field, he leads well."

Boucher also praised De Kock’s aptitude for the game and the former Proteas international alluded to the smart field placements the latter deployed to get rid of the likes of Eoin Morgan and Joe Root.

The manner in which the Proteas captain observes proceedings and makes smart and quick in-game decisions to tilt the balance in his sides favour is something that Boucher has been hugely impressed by.

"We always knew that Quinny has got a very smart cricketing brain. He had a couple of different field placings which I thought were good and he was thinking out of the box," Boucher said.

"Quinny is unique and I think the uniqueness of him can work wonders in a dressing room like this because we've got a unique set-up as well,” Boucher added.