Amla appointed South Africa Test captain

South Africa has appointed batsman Hashim Amla as its new test cricket captain, succeeding longtime leader Graeme Smith who retired in March.

Cricket South Africa named Amla on Tuesday ahead of wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers, who appeared to be the front-runner to replace Smith.

The 31-year-old Amla has previously shied away from the captaincy role when approached to do the job in limited-overs cricket but had a change of heart after Smith’s retirement.

Amla said in a statement: ‘I have concentrated on taking my batting to the highest possible level and now I feel I am in a position to make a contribution to South African cricket in a leadership role.’

Smith announced his retirement in March after more than a decade in charge of the Test team. 

Amla said: ‘It is an honour and a privilege to be given this responsibility.

‘I would like to pay tribute to the leadership Graeme Smith has provided throughout my international career. This is an exciting challenge but one that I take on with positivity with our Test team being in exceptionally good space at the moment with the support of a strong core of senior players.

‘I have concentrated on taking my batting to the highest possible level and now I feel I am in a position to make a contribution to South African cricket in a leadership role,’ said the 31-year-old.

Amla has scored 6214 runs in 76 Tests at an average of 51.35 and 4054 in 85 ODIs at 53.34.