The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed former South African first-class cricketer and coach Michael Smith as the batting coach for the men's national team on a two-year contract. The 46-year-old, whose signing was confirmed on Tuesday (August 4), will take charge of the batting department across both red-ball and white-ball formats, filling a specialist role that has remained vacant for several months.
Calls for a dedicated batting coach grew louder after Pakistan's batting lineup collapsed, leading to a defeat against the West Indies in the Tarouba Test last week. Smith is scheduled to join the national squad ahead of their upcoming three-Test series against England, which is set to begin on August 19. While Umar Gul has served as the designated bowling coach for the Test team, Pakistan has lacked a full-time batting coach across formats, with national selector Asad Shafiq occasionally stepping in to assist in that capacity.
Though Smith never represented South Africa internationally, he possesses extensive coaching credentials. He is a Level 4 qualified coach with a strong reputation on the franchise circuit, including prior experience in Pakistan cricket having worked with Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He has also worked as a batting coach for Australia's Hobart Hurricanes and Cricket Tasmania, alongside consultancy roles with South African domestic teams KZN Inland and Eastern Province.
During his playing career between 2003 and 2013, the right-handed batter played in 89 first-class matches, 72 List A games, and 16 T20s. He accumulated 7,029 runs across formats, scoring nine centuries and 40 half-centuries. Smith's first task will be to address the consistency issues of a struggling Pakistan batting unit. The upcoming three-Test series against England offers an immediate opportunity to turn things around for Pakistan, who have lost eight consecutive away Tests dating back to their 2023-24 tour of Australia.
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