AB de Villiers reckons Mark Boucher can still play a key role in South Africa’s upcoming Test series in England despite a freak injury that forced him into retirement. De Villiers is preparing to keep wicket in Boucher’s place during next week’s first Test at The Oval after the Proteas great suffered a severe eye injury after being struck by a flying bail in the tour opener against Somerset at Taunton earlier this week. That injury prompted the 35-year-old Boucher, whose tally of 555 dismissals in 147 Tests is a world record, to announce his international retirement and so rule him out of a three-match series where any sort of win for South Africa will see them replace England as the world number one in the five-day format. But de Villiers, who will try to get is glovework going during a three-day game against Kent in Canterbury, south-east of London, starting Friday, said Boucher, with the cricket world wishing him well in his battle to save the sight in his left eye, would prove a powerful source of inspiration.
