–

Doctors are “cautiously optimistic” that Mark Boucher, the most prolific wicketkeeper in Test history, will regain sight in his left eye, his general practitioner said in a statement released on Thursday.

Boucher, who was hit in the eye by a bail in the first match of South Africa’s tour of England, underwent his second operation this week, but his doctors said it was still too early to predict how complete his recovery will be because he will need further surgery in the months ahead.

“While it is impossible to predict the long-term outcome of Mark’s eye injury, his medical team are nevertheless cautiously optimistic that he will have a reasonable recovery of the vision in his left eye. Over the next three to six months, Mark will undergo further surgery procedures in an attempt to improve his vision,” Dr Peter Sandell said in the statement.

Boucher was forced to announce his international retirement and the 35-year-old underwent a three-hour operation last week when the blood that had accumulated, due to the trauma suffered by his eye after the injury and the subsequent initial surgery, was removed.

Boucher played in 147 Tests for South Africa and completed 555 dismissals, a world record.

After a couple of years of fraught speculation, we finally know who Mark Boucher’s designated successor is – Thami Tsolekile.

Tsolekile’s inclusion in the list of 22 nationally-contracted players announced on Monday is not only a reward for how well the bizhub Highveld Lions wicketkeeper/batsman has done domestically, but also a clear indication that the national selectors have earmarked him as the successor to Boucher when the world record-holder hangs up his gloves after the tour to England ends in September.

“Yes, Thami wouldn’t be getting a national contract if we didn’t think he was the successor,” convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson told SuperSport.com on Monday. “There’s obviously still a selection process that has to happen before any series, so you can’t take anything for granted, but it’s a decision based on his SuperSport Series performances over the last two or three years and also on the fact he’s never let the SA A team down.”

Finding Boucher’s successor has been a complicated business, with Dane Vilas, Heino Kuhn and Daryn Smit all making strong challenges as well, but Tsolekile has seemingly won the race thanks to his no-frills glovework and tenacious batting.

“Thami’s been a serious contender for a while, he’s 100% as a gloveman plus he’s been scoring runs. He made 58 against Australia in November on a difficult pitch and that showed he has some serious ability,” Hudson said.

Tsolekile’s long-term future as the South African wicketkeeper will, to a great extent, depend on how his report card looks after the England tour, where he is likely to understudy Boucher and play in at least one of the three county games before the first test.

“It’s definitely possible that Thami will go to England, it makes sense for him to go as an understudy,” Hudson said.

Tsolekile will have the advantage of having played at the highest level before, having appeared in three tests (including two in India) in 2004 and Boucher has already promised his aid to whoever his successor will be.

The 31-year-old Tsolekile is one of three newly-contracted players, the other new contracts going to Nashua Titans batsmen Faf du Plessis and Jacques Rudolph.

Despite being picked for the tour to New Zealand, Titans fast bowler Marchant de Lange has not been offered a national contract, but Hudson said the 21-year-old could well break into the group during the year.

“The fact that he’s not getting a contract at the moment does not detract from the fact that he’s a good player and he’s definitely in our plans going forward. As it is at the moment, he’ll only play in our test side if there’s an injury, but we have room to contract him during the year,” Hudson explained.

The presence of Ashwell Prince in the national contract list may appear to be an anachronism after his unceremonious dropping from the test side, but Hudson said the selectors were still looking at the number six position and the Chevrolet Warriors left-hander remained in contention.

“Ashwell’s presence is just because the number six position hasn’t been resolved yet, nobody has really laid claim to it. If Ashwell’s on-song, then he’s good enough and if he’s performing, then he’ll definitely be in the picture,” Hudson said.

The players who have lost national contracts are the injury-prone Nashua Dolphins batsman Loots Bosman and Chevrolet Knights all-rounder Ryan McLaren, despite the fact he was the leading all-rounder in the SuperSport Series with 576 runs and 26 wickets.

Nationally contracted squad: Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Thami Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Mark Boucher is still such a highly-respected member of the South African test team that the selectors have not yet begun a succession plan for him, judging by the squad to tour New Zealand that was announced on Wednesday.

JP Duminy replacing Ashwell Prince is the only change to the test squad that featured against Sri Lanka and it is now almost inevitable that Boucher will go to England in July as the first-choice wicketkeeper.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson told SuperCricket on Wednesday that the option of a back-up to the world record-holder had not been discussed.

“We didn’t want to look too far ahead and I don’t want to speculate on the England tour. At the moment, this is our best squad and if we try and look to the England tour then we’ll be looking too far ahead. We considered this tour in isolation and we’ll pick for the future as and when we need to,” Hudson said.

“That’s why there is no reserve wicketkeeper for the test side, but having AB de Villiers in the wings does help.”

Critics of Boucher – whose batting has come under the most scrutiny – should remember that the feisty veteran made an important 65 in the first test against Sri Lanka on a treacherous Centurion pitch. But those same critics will point to how his batting average has dropped from 54.28 in 2009/10 to 15.83 in the five tests played this season. And those rare misses behind the stumps have now increased to occasional.

There had been a school of thought that the selectors should have named a second wicketkeeper for the New Zealand tour and, depending on how Boucher performs in the three tests, at least the back-up would not be a total rookie for the daunting England trip.

Saying goodbye to someone who has performed so exceptionally and been such a vital part of the team for so long is always terrible, but South Africa will need runs – as well as safe catching – from their wicketkeeper in England, where it is not unusual for a team to be four down by lunch in the often overcast, seam-friendly conditions.

While the test squad is as expected, it is in the limited-overs squads that the selectors have made the most interesting changes.

Justin Ontong – who proved a great finisher for the Cobras en route to their One-Day Cup title with his clever hitting rather than big hitting – has been recalled for both the ODIs and the three T20 internationals.

It has been nearly three years since Ontong last played for South Africa, but his recall feels right given that he has just turned 32 and has been one of the most dominant batsmen in domestic cricket.

“Justin has matured as a player, he spent some time back in domestic cricket, but he’s had a great run, which is very heartening,” Hudson said. “Sometimes a player can maybe be exposed early on, but they can come back later when they understand their game better and are more mature.”

Ontong is likely to slot inside the middle-order, competing with the likes of Faf du Plessis and Albie Morkel for a place in the ODI team.

While Jacques Rudolph and Duminy currently have the inside track for the number six spot in the test team, Hudson hinted that Ontong was not too far off that squad either.

“The number six position has not yet been secured, it’s still open and we look forward to someone grabbing that spot and making it their own,” the former opening batsman said.

There are also clearly moves afoot to refresh the T20 side, with Ontong, Richard Levi and Marchant de Lange all receiving call-ups.

There is a changing of the guard at the top of the order, with Graeme Smith omitted and Cobras star Levi slated to open the batting in his place.

Jacques Kallis has also been rested from the shortest version of the game, but Hudson said there could still be room for both him and Smith in the squad for the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.

“I’m not closing the door on people, if someone’s good enough, they will play. We’ll still be choosing squads to go to Zimbabwe and England so there are still opportunities to mix-and-match.

“We’ll be going for consistency closer to September but we have quite exciting possibilities in terms of openers with Hashim, Richard, Jacques and Graeme,” Hudson said.

As Smith showed in the last two ODIs against Sri Lanka, it would be stupid to write him off as his experience and big-game temperament could be crucial in the World T20.