The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed former South African cricketer Michael Smith as the batting coach of the Pakistan men’s team. The PCB announced the appointment on Tuesday. Smith will be part of the coaching staff in all three formats, Tests, ODIs, and T20Is,and will work with the team in both red-ball and white-ball cricket. The 46-year-old has been handed a two-year contract and will join the Pakistan team ahead of their upcoming three-match Test series against England, scheduled to begin on August 19.
PCB Appoints Michael Smith as Batting Coach
The team management and the selectors were reportedly concerned about the current batting standard of the team and hence, to strengthen the core and improve consistency across formats, Smith was brought in.
“Former South African cricketer Michael Smith has been appointed batting coach of the Pakistan men’s team, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed today. 46-year-old will work with the team across both red-ball and white-ball formats,” PCB’s statement read.
Michael Smith has experience as both a player and a coach. He played domestic cricket from 2003 to 2013. During his career, he played 89 first-class matches, 72 List A matches, and 16 T20 games. The right-handed batter scored 7,029 runs in all formats, including nine centuries and 40 half-centuries. After moving into coaching, Smith worked with several domestic and franchise teams. He has been part of the coaching setups of Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises.
He has also served as batting coach for Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes and Cricket Tasmania. The former cricketer holds a Level 4 coaching qualification and has further experience as a coaching consultant with South Africa’s KZN Inland and Eastern Province. Smith’s first major task would be to work with the Test side.