Boucher fined 60% of match fees

PROTEAS wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has been fined 60 percent of his match fees in the Twenty20 World Cup cricket tournament next month, after being found guilty of breaching Cricket South Africa’s player code of conduct.
Charges arose from an article published in Business Day on August 15 where Boucher commented on Jacques Kallis’ non-selection for the Twenty20 event.
In his evidence, Boucher repudiated any link between his comments and the selection issue, and claimed his reference to those who had an “issue with Kallis” or “a chip on their shoulder” or “ulterior motives” had nothing to do with the selectors of the Twenty20 team but was merely a statement, in general, concerning Kallis’ critics, and sections of the Afrikaans press.
The commissioner found that the comments by Boucher served to “rubbish” a possible reason for Kallis’ non-selection and that the comments were prejudicial to the selection of the team and hence to the Twenty20 itself for if South Africa was not fielding its best team that, in turn, was detrimental to the prestige of the World Cup.
On Thursday, the commissioner handed down his sanction, and stated: “In my view the breaches are serious. Senior players have a responsibility to CSA and to cricket in general.
“Their responsibilities are set forth in the code and in their contracts and one is entitled to expect punctilious performance of their obligations.
“In the present case the comments to the media were calculated in their effect to embarrass CSA and to denigrate the Twenty20.”
The commissioner noted that damage has been done to CSA and that Boucher has not retracted, nor apologised for the comments made