CSA appoints Graeme Smith as acting director of cricket

Former captain Graeme Smith on Wednesday accepted the role of Cricket South Africa's (CSA) acting director of cricket.

The CSA's acting CEO Jacques Faul said that Smith will remain on the post until the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year.

Faul said in an official statement: "I am delighted that Graeme has agreed to assist Cricket South Africa up until the IPL next year."

"Obviously, Graeme has had his concerns during the course of the last few months, but I am pleased to say that we have overcome those concerns and I look forward to working with him to urgently address pressing cricketing matters in particular."

"Graeme is statistically the most successful Test captain in the history of the game," added Faul.

Faul praised the Proteas legendary batsman, who has 15,000 above runs across all formats.

"He is a natural leader and his knowledge of the game is second to none. To have him on board to work with the professional cricket arm of CSA, as well as the cricketing pipeline, which is so vital for our game, is a massive shot in the arm for CSA during this period," Faul said.

Commenting on his appointment, Smith said: "I've publicly stated a number of times that I would love to assist CSA in this difficult time, particularly in developing this new role of Director of Cricket."

"I'm still as passionate about South African cricket as I ever was and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the role. There is a lot of work to be done in the next few weeks and months and my objective will always be to make a positive impact during my tenure," he added.

Proteas will host England for the four-match Test series, which will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), starting from December 26.