Proteas head coach Mark Boucher will leave his role after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
The announcement by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday night comes after a less-than-inspiring tour of England, during which only one batsman managed 50 runs in a 2-1 Test series loss.
“Mr. Boucher has decided to resign in order to pursue other opportunities in line with his future career and personal objectives,” said CSA.
“While CSA greatly regrets that Mr. Boucher is unable to see out the term of his contract, it respects his decision and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.”
Boucher, a former wicket-keeper, has held the position of head coach since December 2019,
He led the Proteas to 11 Test wins, including a memorable 2-1 series win against India at home in January this year.
The Proteas sit at number two on the ICC World Test Championship table.
In the limited-overs arena, Boucher has helped South Africa claim 12 One-Day Internationals wins, and 23 T20 International victories, the most recent being a historic 2-1 series triumph against England.
“His last series at the helm will be a white-ball tour of India from 28 September – 11 October before heading to the T20 World Cup in Australia, where South Africa are grouped alongside Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan,” said CSA.
The tournament will run from 16 October – 13 November.
CSA Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki commented: “We would like to thank Mark for the time and effort he has invested in South African cricket as the Head Coach over the past three years.
“He has helped navigate us through some rough waters following the departures of so many senior players through retirement and has helped lay some strong foundations for the next generation of Proteas.
“We are extremely grateful to him for the work he has done and would like to wish him well with the next chapter of his career.”
Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe said: “We are deeply saddened by Mark’s decision to leave us but we also understand and respect his wishes”.
Nkwe added: “He is a Proteas legend and has done so much for the game in our country, both on the field and over the last three years off it, which we highly appreciate.
“He has built a sound platform for South Africa to flourish in all three formats and I’m sure we will see the results of that at the T20 World Cup next month.
“He has a settled squad already, one that is growing in confidence, and we look forward to watching them in their important series in India before they head to Australia.”
CSA said it will “in due course” announce its intentions regarding a successor to 45-year-old Boucher.
Earlier this year in May, allegations of racism levelled against Boucher were dropped by CSA before a hearing could take place.
Meanwhile, a Cricbuzz report suggests that Boucher’s team is in talks with a couple of IPL franchises, one of which has a team in the South Africa league (SA20) – a competition set to be played in January-February next year.