Proteas head coach Mark Boucher is hopeful Jacques Kallis can rejoin the Proteas management team in future after taking up the role of England batting consultant.
Kallis is currently providing his services to the England batsmen for their tour of Sri Lanka, an appointment that raised a lot of question marks back home in South Africa.
The former Proteas batsman was quoted earlier this week as saying he ‘wasn’t allowed to be involved because Cricket South Africa said there would be no more white consultants’.
This comes after CSA initially installed a transformation policy of hiring only black consultants. The implementation has, however, since been put on hold by the CSA interim board.
READ: Kallis cites CSA transformation rules as reason for SA exit
On Thursday, Boucher called Kallis’ temporary departure a ‘bitter pill to swallow’ after being involved with the Proteas a year ago.
‘Jacques has been working with guys on an individual basis,’ Boucher told reporters with specific mention to the work he had been doing with Temba Bavuma in Cape Town recently.
‘Unfortunately sometimes you get messages saying this guy can’t be selected to fulfil a role that you maybe want him to. Yes, he [Jacques] is a mate of mine but he is also a very good cricketer and he can add a lot of knowledge as well. So, why wouldn’t we want him in our set-up?’
Kallis was the Proteas’ batting consultant for last year’s Test series against England, which Joe Root’s men comfortably won 3-1.
Boucher remains adamant that someone of Kallis’ calibre should be involved with the Proteas, hoping his former teammate can come on board again in the near future.
‘He certainly is someone that we would like to get back into a consultancy role. Over the next short period of time, if we can get him involved, maybe against Australia. Reason being, there are so many players who have spoken highly of Jacques and the knowledge that he passed on to them.
‘He is on my radar, just trying to get him back involved with the Proteas set-up. I just hope we treat him with care as well. He has shown that he has a lot of other opportunities in world cricket at the moment. It would be stupid not to try and hang on to him and I know Jacques would love to be working in South African cricket.’
Asked about the CSA policy of hiring consultants, Boucher said he has mainly been left in the dark regarding who is allowed to join the coaching set-up.
‘No one has spoken to me about anything. The only thing I’ve done is read in the media that we are allowed white consultants again,’ he added.
