5 Great Moments in Mark Boucher's South Africa Career

Mark Boucher celebrates his 38th birthday today, 3 December 2014. The South African wicketkeeper was forced to retire from international cricket over two years ago through an unfortunate injury.

Playing in a warm-up match in Taunton, ahead of South Africa’s tour of England, a bail ricocheted into Boucher’s eye. He had to have emergency surgery to save his eye, but the damage was too bad for him to resume any sort of cricketing career. Here’s a look back at some of the great moments in his career, add your favourites in the comments. 

Just a few months after turning 21 and playing in his second ever Test, Mark Boucher combined with Pat Symcox for a record-breaking 195-run partnership for the ninth wicket against Pakistan.

With the top order having failed and only one other pair managing more than 50 runs together, Boucher and Symcox stayed together for almost 50 overs. Symcox scored his maiden Test century and South Africa eventually went on to draw the Test. It set the tone for a long career of gritty and match-saving knocks. Their record remains the highest for the ninth wicket to this day.

During the Boxing Day Test against England in 1999, South Africa were forced to follow on. Having been bowled out for 156 in their first innings, the hosts needed something special. While Gary Kirsten was the mainstay of the second innings, scoring 275 in over 870 minutes at the crease, Boucher also contributed valiantly. He added 108 runs lower down the order, including a 192-run stand with Kirsten.

This one-day game is still known as the greatest ever. Australia had clobbered 434 in their innings after batting first and South Africa needed something extraordinary in order to win. Just three South African batsmen managed more than 50 runs and Boucher was one of them. His unbeaten 50 and shepherding of the tail helped South Africa to what was surely their greatest ever win in limited-overs cricket.

In November 2011, Boucher became the first ever cricketer to take 500 catches in Test matches. He finished his career with 532 catches and 23 stumpings, bringing his total dismissals to 555. That's more dismissals than anyone else during the history of the game and more catches, too. This great moment might not be quite as memorable as the others, but it's a great moment because it was yet another record ticked off. 

Between February 1998 and August 2004, Boucher never missed a Test. He played in 75 consecutive matches, a South African record at the time. He was dropped for South Africa’s tour to India in 2004 but went on to play 147 Tests in total. AB de Villiers has since broken Boucher's record and has played 95 consecutive Tests for South Africa, but at the time, it was a fantastic achievement for a keeper who made his debut while still wet behind the ears.