Pakistan Cricket Board Appoint Michael Smith as New Batting Coach on Two-Year Contract

Michael Smith, former South African cricketer and coach, has been appointed as Pakistan’s new batting coach on a two-year contract. PCB confirmed the appointment of Smith on Tuesday.

In an official statement, the PCB said, “The 46-year-old will work with both the red-ball and white-ball sides, filling a specialist role that has remained vacant in recent months. Calls for a specialist batting coach gained momentum after Pakistan suffered a batting collapse to lose the Tarouba Test to West Indies last week. Smith will link up with the Pakistan squad ahead of the three-Test series against England, which begins on August 19.”

Smith’s appointment concludes a long and tenacious period where the Men in Green had lacked a proper batting coach for most of the time period. While the Shaheens have a dedicated bowling coach in the form of Umar Gul, they had lacked a batting coach. National selector Asad Shafiq had previously stepped in to assist with batting duties when required, but Smith is now set to take over the role permanently.

Coaching Report Card Of Michael Smith

Smith arrives with extensive coaching experience despite never representing South Africa at the international level. A Level 4-qualified coach, he has established a strong reputation in franchise cricket and is already familiar with the Pakistan setup, having worked with Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League.

He has also held batting coach roles with Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes and Cricket Tasmania, alongside consultancy stints with South African teams KZN Inland and Eastern Province.

During his playing career, Smith featured in 89 first-class matches, 72 List A games and 16 T20s between 2003 and 2013. The right-handed batter amassed 7,029 runs across formats, including nine centuries and 40 half-centuries.

First Challenge Of Michael Smith

The first challenge that the South African will look to change is to bring a chain of consistency in the batting lineup. The ongoing West Indies series has exposed the batting unit of Pakistan, where the men in Green have lost wickets in heaps without rotating the scoreboard.

The England tour, featuring three Tests, presents an immediate opportunity to address those concerns as Pakistan look to reverse their fortunes in the longest format, which has seen them lose eight straight away Tests going back to the 2023-24 tour of Australia.