Johannesburg, Apr 17 (IANS): Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith was on Friday appointed as South Africas Director of Cricket for a two-year term until the end of April 2022.

Smith was appointed on an interim basis in mid-December till the end of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, with the tournament now postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic, he has been confirmed in the role.

"Graeme has made a huge impact with his energy, expertise, hard work ethic and characteristic determination and passion he has brought to the position during the six months he has served in an acting capacity," commented CSA Acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul.

"Although there is certainly a great deal of work to be done, as reflected by the performances of our various national teams, he has certainly put our cricket on an upward trajectory that provides light at the end of the tunnel.

"He has bought into all the overall pillars of our strategy and that includes the important one of transformation," he added.

Smith, on his part, said he was delighted to stay on board as part of the team to take South African cricket forward.

"My appointment brings a degree of permanency to my position which makes planning the road ahead a lot easier.

"As Dr. Faul has said, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done, not just at international level but throughout our pipeline development pathways as well but I am determined to get South African cricket back to where it belongs as one of the world leaders at international level," he concluded.

The 39-year-old represented the Proteas in 117 Tests, 197 ODIs and 33 T20Is in which he scored 9265, 6989 and 982 runs respectively.