Midway through the third Test of South Africa’s tour of England in 2008, Kevin Pietersen went berserk. He had made mincemeat of the Proteas’ attack and had the Edgbaston crowd bouncing. Alongside Paul Collingwood, Pietersen had catapulted England’s lead to 136 and threatened to triple it. South Africa needed a breakthrough. That’s when Mark Boucher – then South Africa’s wicketkeeper, now South Africa’s coach – devised a cunning plan.
“Bouch told me he wanted me to swear at KP,” remembers Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner with 103 Test wickets. “I didn’t need a second invite. KP was on 94 and Bouch figured he’d want to reach his ton with a six. So the plan was to play on his ego a bit, get him angry.”
