South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher on Wednesday said he would have refused captaincy of their national cricket team had he been offered the job.
"I would have said no to it (captaincy)," said Boucher. "I was not prepared for that extra responsibility and would much rather concentrate on my role behind the stumps."
Boucher was vice-captain of the South African side that failed to go beyond the first round of this year's World Cup, but Graeme Smith replaced Shaun Pollock when the selectors decided for a change in captaincy.
South Africa have not named a deputy for Smith according to a new policy.
"It takes a special person to be captain of an international side," said 26-year-old Boucher, who has 228 victims in 58 Tests and 215 victims in 145 one-dayers.
"I would not have been comfortable worrying about bowling changes and field placements while keeping wicket, though I would always like to chip in with suggestions," Boucher said ahead of Thursday's tri-series meeting with Bangladesh.
"The wicketkeeper is in the best position to make certain judgements as he has a better idea of the movement of the ball and what the batsman is trying to do, but it is not necessary that he leads."
Boucher said their frontline players had no inkling that 22-year-old Smith, who is the second-youngest one-day captain ever and the youngest South African skipper, would be asked to lead.
{{/usCountry}}Boucher said their frontline players had no inkling that 22-year-old Smith, who is the second-youngest one-day captain ever and the youngest South African skipper, would be asked to lead.
{{/usCountry}}"We only found that out when the selectors decided to remove Shaun. We were just told that Smith would take over."
South Africa are here for a three-nation tournament with India and Bangladesh.