Former South African Captain Graeme Smith has withdrawn his interest in becoming Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) director of cricket. In a statement issued on his Twitter feed on Thursday, Smith said he was not sure that he would have been given the freedom to do the job on his own terms.
Smith confirmed that he had been interviewed by CSA for a position which would no doubt have put him in charge of the national team, which is going through a poor phase since losing a home Test series against Sri Lanka in February.
The 38-year-old Smith said, “I would love to take this role. However, despite my obvious wish to have a change, during the long and, at times, frustrating process over the last 10 or so weeks of discussions, I have not built up the necessary confidence that I would be given the level of freedom and support to start the required changes.”
The team director will report to the director of cricket, who will, in turn, report to the chief executive, Thabang Moroe. Enoch Nkwe was appointed as the interim team director for a tour of India in which South Africa lost all three Tests by wide margins last month. Former international Corrie van Zyl, the interim director of cricket, was recently suspended along with two other officials following a controversy over money owed to players for the last year’s Super League T20 competition.
Media reports indicate, however, that Van Zyl remains a contender for the full-time position. Smith concluded his statement by saying his passion for South Africa’s cricketing fortunes will remain unbiased and unchanged.
