Interim director of cricket Graeme Smith has reiterated that wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock isn’t necessarily former Test captain Faf du Plessis’ successor.

De Kock succeeded Du Plessis as ODI and T20I captain earlier this year, but a full-time appointment hasn’t yet been made for the longest format of the international game.

The Proteas’ latest Test captain will be named after the appointment of the new convenor of selectors, South Africa A head coach, Proteas Women’s head coach and other posts later this year.

‘We haven’t made any decisions around the Test captaincy yet,’ said Smith.

‘It hasn’t been a discussion point. We’ll be advertising the convenor of selector role now in April and we’re busy drawing up that advertisement – that was always going to be the case – and then once those advertisements are out then we’ll address things going forward.

‘At this stage I think my expectations around Quinton as a captain are on the tactical side on the field and I think he’s certainly had some challenges. We’ve introduced a fair amount of new, young players and that’s never easy on a captain.

‘Among all of that he’s maintained his own personal performance, which I guess was important and, by all accounts, he’s connected really well behind the scenes as a leader with the players.

‘Having been a young, inexperienced captain, it’s about opening your mind to all the different challenges that the job. All in all, I was very happy with the way Quinton coped. There are areas he will want to improve and need to improve.’

Smith, meanwhile, will likely be appointed in a full-time capacity this month. He had agreed to the interim post late last year, prior to commentary commitments in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League.

The start of this year’s IPL has been moved from 29 March to 15 April and might be further delayed amid preventative measures against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

‘We are in final negotiations and hope to make an announcement next week,’ added CSA acting chief executive officer Jacques Faul about Smith.

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