Cape Town - Acting Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Jacques Faul believes former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith is the right person for the Director of Cricket (DOC) role.
Faul was unveiled on Saturday as the acting chief executive of the organisation, succeeding the suspended Thabang Moroe.
Faul's first order of business will be securing Smith's signature for the DOC position this week.
Smith had previously expressed interest in the role, but then removed himself from the running just six days later claiming that he did not have the confidence that there would be no interference in his role from CSA administration.
On Saturday, CSA President Chris Nenzani said that they were hoping to make his appointment official on Wednesday.
READ: CSA crisis | Board, Nenzani escape unscathed
Faul revealed that with the help of former ICC chief executive Dave Richardson, CSA would be hoping to get the former Proteas skipper on their side.
"We will be contacting Graeme and engaging with him, we've got to allow him to get his mind around it but we've got some good help in Dave (Richardson)," Faul told reporters on Saturday.
"This will be a big obligation that Graeme's got to fill."
Faul feels that Smith is perfect person for the DOC role and believes that he can make a difference to the embattled organisation.
"I'm encouraging him (Smith) to take up the job because I honestly think he's the right person and can make a big difference," said Faul.
"It's not ideal with England on its way in a week or two, I also think we've got to believe that we can turn it around. We've got to be positive about it, we cannot spend a lot of energy on what has gone wrong... but I think there's so much things that we're going to do immediately to get going."
Despite being known as South Africa's best skipper of all time, the 38-year-old Smith has never managed any team after he called time on international career in 2014.
Smith has played 117 Tests, 197 ODIs and 33 T20Is for the Proteas from 2002 to 2014.
- Compiled by Lynn Butler