Overview
- Multiple Pakistani and international outlets reported Monday that the Pakistan Cricket Board has reached a verbal agreement to appoint Mike Smith as the permanent Test batting coach, with an official announcement expected soon.
- Smith is a Level‑4 qualified batting coach, the highest coaching tier, and has worked with T20 franchises including Multan Sultans which gives him prior exposure to several Pakistan players.
- He will replace Asad Shafiq, who served as interim batting coach since April and is expected to return to his role as a national selector once Smith assumes the job.
- Smith is slated to join the team for the three-Test England tour that opens at Headingley on August 19, leaving only a short window for him to work on technique with the batters before the series.
- The appointment follows a public PCB recruitment process launched in May with a June 7 deadline and is framed as a targeted response to recurring technical failings and mid-innings collapses in Pakistan’s red-ball batting.