CEO Pholetsi Moseki admits Cricket South Africa was caught off-guard by Mark Boucher’s decision to leave his role as Proteas head coach.

Boucher, who broke the news to the Test team on Monday after their defeat by England at The Oval, has been linked with the head coach role at new SA20 franchise MI Cape Town.

“He basically said he wants to pursue other opportunities but we don’t know exactly what his next steps are,” Moseki told Sport24. “He will probably make the announcement when he gets the chance.

“To be honest, we were expecting him to be around until the ODI World Cup in India next year. When he engaged with us, it was quite a shock in that sense.

“You can’t begrudge him for wanting to pursue other opportunities like he said he wanted. At least we agreed that he finishes after the T20 World Cup in Australia.”

Boucher was expected to complete his four-year contract after CSA dropped all of its disciplinary charges, including those of racism, against him in May.

However, recently appointed CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe is now under pressure to find an immediate replacement for the former Proteas wicketkeeper.

“It’s never ideal,” said Moseki. “We still thought we had over 12 months. When he informed us, then we had to start looking at people but it was not something we were looking at before.

“We need to have someone in, even if they are not permanent, for the Australia tour at the end of the year especially.

“And that’s the plan Enoch needs to present to me because everything has now been brought forward.

“At least for the T20 World Cup, we don’t have to run around looking for a coach just before the tournament. That would have been a disaster.”