South Africa: Malibongwe Maketa named head coach for Australia tour

South Africa have appointed Malibongwe Maketa as interim head coach for the three-Test tour of Australia which starts next month.

The 42-year-old will take over from Mark Boucher, who will step down after the current T20 World Cup.

Maketa is coach of South Africa A and was an assistant coach with the senior team from 2017 to 2019.

"He is a familiar face to the environment," Cricket South Africa's director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said.

"Mali knows most of the players well. They know him too and with such a short time between now and the tour, we at Cricket South Africa felt we needed someone who could step in immediately and lead us through what is an important series."

South Africa are second in the World Test Championship heading into the series in Australia, with the hosts top of the standings.

The first Test in Brisbane begins on 17 December.

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

Photo: Cricket South Africa