PCB appoints South Africa’s Michael Smith as batting coach for men’s team

Staff Report

LAHORE: Former South African cricketer Michael Smith has been appointed as the batting coach of the Pakistan men’s cricket team for two years, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday. According to a press release issued by the PCB, the “46-year-old will work with the team across both red-ball and white-ball formats”. He will join the Pakistan team ahead of the three-match Test series against England, commencing on Aug 19, the press release stated. Elaborating on Smith’s experience, the press release stated that he had featured in 89 first-class matches, 72 List-A matches and 16 T20 matches between 2003 and 2013. “The right-handed batter scored 7,029 runs across the three formats, including nine centuries and 40 half-centuries,” the PCB said.

Smith, who holds a Level 4 coaching qualification, has served on the coaching staffs of three HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises — Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans, it added The press release further stated that he has also worked as a batting coach with Australian franchise Hobart Hurricanes and Cricket Tasmani. As a coaching consultant, Smith has worked with South Africa’s KZN Inland and Eastern Province, the press release added. Prior to Smith’s appointment, former Test batter Asad Shafiq was appointed as Pakistan’s interim batting coach in April 2026 for the Bangladesh Test series. Shafiq is currently also accompanying the Pakistan team for its two-match Test series in the West Indies. Before Shafiq’s interim appointment, Shahid Aslam had been serving as Pakistan’s batting coach since replacing former Test captain Mohammad Yousuf in the role in November 2024.