Pakistan appoints South African Mike Smith as batting coach
Mumbai, Aug 3
To solve their consistent batting woes, Pakistan have appointed former South African first-class cricketer Mike Smith as the batting coach of the national Test team ahead of their next assignment against England, replacing Test star Asad Shafiq.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to officially announce the appointment a few days before the team's upcoming Test series against England, a report in Telecom Asia Sport said on Monday. "Smith applied for the post of batting coach after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) advertised the post and he will take charge on Pakistan's tour of England," sources told www.telecomasia.net on condition of anonymity.
The report said Shafiq's role as batting coach was criticised as he was also a member of the men's and women's selection committee besides being the head of PCB's academy in Karachi. "Shafiq was wearing four caps and his role as batting coach was a diversion for him as well as ineffective," said sources.
Pakistan has had frequent changes in the team management with Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Andrew Puttick and Shafiq serving in the post in the last three years, the report added. "PCB advertisement did not attract more than five applications as foreigners see the post in Pakistan team as short-lived for the reason of frequent changes," sources were quoted as saying in the report.
Smith is a Level 4-qualified coach and a former South African first-class cricketer. He has previously worked with Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), gaining valuable experience within Pakistan's domestic cricket structure.
Pakistan's batting has been failing in Test matches as they have lost eight successive Tests abroad, the worst sequence in their history, the report said.
Pakistan failed to chase a modest 211-run target in the first Test against the West Indies at Tarouba last week and faces their first series defeat against the West Indies in 26 years, the report added.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good decision by PCB. Younis Khan is a legend but coaching is a different ball game altogether. Mike Smith at least has Level 4 qualifications. Hope he brings some discipline to their batting order.
Interesting to see Pakistan investing in foreign coaches again. While they have great talent, consistency is clearly missing. Getting someone with fresh eyes might actually help their young batsmen adapt better in overseas conditions.
PCB ka chakkar hai bhai! Advertise karke koi qualified coach nahi mila, toh isliye Mike Smith ko laye? At least he knows PSL and our conditions. But how long will he stay? Pakistan cricket needs stability, not just new appointments every 6 months. 😅
The real issue is that players need mentorship, not just technical coaching. Their Test batting has been poor abroad for a while - maybe it's high time they focus on mental conditioning too, alongside technical adjustments. Hope Smith succeeds.
Having watched their recent performances, I feel sorry for Pakistan fans. They have so much raw talent but are let down by poor decision-making in crucial moments. A foreign coach with experience in English conditions might be useful for the upcoming series. Let's see what happens.
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