Pakistan Bring In Michael Smith as Batting Coach Before the England Tour
The PCB have appointed the South African on a two year deal covering both red and white ball cricket. He joins in time for the three Test series in England that starts on 19 August, and he arrives from the league Pakistan's own players know best.
Pakistan have appointed Michael Smith as batting coach of the men's team, on a two year contract that covers both red and white ball cricket. The board confirmed the appointment on 4 August.
Who he is
Smith is 46 and South African. As a player he had a substantial rather than a famous career: 89 first class matches, 72 List A games and 16 T20s between 2003 and 2013, and 7,029 runs across the three formats with nine hundreds and 40 fifties.
The coaching record is the more relevant half. He holds a Level 4 qualification and has worked on the staff of three Pakistan Super League franchises, Islamabad United, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans, as well as with Hobart Hurricanes and Cricket Tasmania in Australia.
Why that matters here
Appointing a coach who has already spent seasons inside the PSL means he arrives knowing a good number of the players, the domestic structures they come through and the conditions that shaped them. A batting coach's first year is usually spent learning those things. He starts with them.
The timing is the point
He joins ahead of the three Test series in England that begins at Headingley on 19 August, which is not a gentle first assignment. Pakistan's batting has been the department under examination for some time, and a tour of England in late August tends to examine it thoroughly.
Pakistan are also finishing a Test series in the Caribbean this week, so the new appointment inherits a group already in the middle of a long run of red ball cricket rather than one waiting at home for him.
Two years is a real term rather than a gesture. It suggests a board that has decided the batting problem is structural and needs someone to stay long enough to work on it.