South Africa appoint Former Proteas batsman McKenzie as batting coach

Neil McKenzie has joined the South Africa backroom staff as a batting coach, initially until the end of the World Twenty20 in India in March.

Former Proteas batsman McKenzie joins up with the squad ahead of the T20I series against England which begins in Cape Town on Friday.

The 40-year-old’s career saw him rack up 58 Tests, 64 one-day internationals, 155 domestic T20s and a huge 19,041 runs in first-class cricket.

South Africa coach Russell Domingo made the announcement on Wednesday.

“Neil McKenzie joins us, it’s great to have him on board. It’s been something that we have been trying to do for a long time. We have explored a few options and finally one guy has committed to us, we are ecstatic that Neil will be joining us,” he said.

“Neil will work with us until the end of the T20 World Cup. Things will be assessed from there, it’s the end of the cricket season, and we will look at things going forward. He has played a lot of Test, ODI and T20 cricket both locally and overseas.

“The main thing with Neil will be the relationship he develops with players – as a coach, that is the most important ingredient.”

McKenzie is delighted to be involved with the national team once again having last featured in the second Test against Australia in March 2009 – a series which ended in a 2-1 defeat.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be aiding in the batting side of things. It’s nice to be back in the setup, I haven’t been here since 2009,” he added.

“It’s a good bunch of exciting players and I’m really keen to get started working with all the professionals and to hopefully try and make a difference for South Africa.”