Former skipper Graeme Smith has been appointed as the Cricket South Africa’s Director of Cricket for a two-year term that will keep him at the post until the end of April 2022.
In December 2019, the 39-year-old was named as the CSA’s interim director of cricket on an interim basis till the end of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the country’s cricket board now confirmed that Smith has been roped in the role on a permanent basis for next two years.
Reflecting on the appointment, CSA Acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul said that Smith has made a huge impact with his energy and expertise in the last few months and helped the side put up good performances.
“Graeme has made a huge impact with his energy, expertise, hard work ethic and characteristic determination and passion he has brought to the position during the six months he has served in an acting capacity. Although there is certainly a great deal of work to be done, as reflected by the performances of our various national teams, he has certainly put our cricket on an upward trajectory that provides light at the end of the tunnel,” the CSA press release quoted Faul as saying.”
Smith, on the other hand, said that he is happy to stay on board and now looking forward to take the national side forward.
“My appointment brings a degree of permanency to my position which makes planning the road ahead a lot easier,” he said.
Smith has appeared in a total of 117 Tests, 197 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 33 Twenty20Is for South Africa before retiring from the game. He amassed 17,236 runs across the three formats of the game.
