Mark Boucher’s early return from Australia with a fractured toe has renewed the debate as to whether it’s time to hand over the wicketkeeping gloves to AB de Villiers.

De Villiers proved on Monday, as he has done in the past, that he’s a more than competent replacement for Boucher behind the stumps and the fact that he makes the team on batting ability alone, does give the selectors more options in the bowling department.

But despite De Villiers’s undoubted all-round talent and strong claims from Dolphins gloveman, Daryn Smit, I still feel that despite a calamitous drop in form, Boucher is South Africa’s best bet behind the stumps for the next two or three years.

While Boucher might not be in De Villiers’s batting league, he is certainly one of the best No 7 batsmen in Test cricket, especially when the chips are down.

Along with his never-say-die qualities, the 32-year-old East Londoner brings 11 years of international experience to the table and while he may not have been as prolific with the bat as he would probably have liked to have been in the recent series Down Under, Boucher was nothing short of flawless behind the stumps.

Since making his debut against Pakistan as a raw 20-year-old, Boucher has claimed many records, including fastest wicketkeeper to 100 dismissals, most Test dismissals (466), most Test catches (445) and on the batting front he holds the record ninth wicket partnership of 195 with Pat Symcox against Pakistan at the Wanderers in 1998. Boucher’s batting pedigree is backed up by a Test average of 30 and he has five centuries and 29 half centuries to his name. In the one-day format Boucher is second only to the retired Adam Gilchrist in dismissals and catches and he’s closing in fast and still has an ODI batting average of 29, despite coming in at seven or eight.

When you’re talking about great wicketkeepers, Alan Knott (England), Jeffrey Dujon (West Indies), Wasim Bari (Pakistan), and Australians, Rodney Marsh, Ian Healy and Gilchrist spring most readily to mind and as far as I’m concerned, Boucher’s achievements and records are comparable if not better.

Along with captain Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, Boucher forms an important triumvirate with a wealth of experience for the younger players in the Proteas squad to feed off.

After losing the Test and one day series at home, the Australians are going to come back at us harder than ever, and when the first Test gets under way at the Wanderers on February 26, Boucher’s reassured presence behind the stumps will be key to seeing off the inevitable Aussie onslaught.