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Cape Town - Cricket South Africa's (CSA) Director of Cricket Graeme Smith revealed that he still needs to get a grip on transformation, but admits he is "very much aware of it".
This past weekend, Smith unveiled Mark Boucher as the new head coach, replacing Enoch Nkwe who was the Proteas' Team Director in the recent 3-0 series loss in India.
Nkwe was South Africa's first black national coach, but has been reassigned as Boucher's assistant.
Smith reiterated his decision in selecting Boucher and stated that Nkwe's assistant coach position will help "develop him into a high-standard international coach".
"My job is also to create cricket excellence and I 100% feel that I've made the right decision for the Proteas," Smith said at Newlands.
"Enoch's future is the right appointment. We need to think about managing people sometimes and not just a number. That is important and those discussions need to happen."
Smith, regarded by many as South Africa's best-ever captain, stated that transformation is a vital discussion he'll be having in the near future.
"I'm very aware of transformation, I've led my country for 11 years, I've had to be very much a part of managing those processes," he said.
"A number of discussions need to happen behind the scenes, I need to get a grip of what's in place as well. A lot of continuity in this management with Mark's experience - a battle hardened cricketer - is what was needed."
Interim convenor of selectors Linda Zondi admitted that transformation and quality need to go hand-in-hand.
"We should never be apologetic about transformation we all understand our country," Zondi said in Cape Town.
"We can't put players forward just to tick a box. I think we need to make sure the excellence is there and that the players perform. We need to have those hard discussions and make sure that quality and transformation go hand in hand," said Zondi.
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Meanwhile, Smith singled out Ashwell Prince's new role as South Africa 'A' coach as a stepping stone in the right direction.
"I am very happy that we have Ashwell involved. He has a lot of international experience, he is a hardened international cricketer. He is full of opinions which we love," said Smith.
"The 'A' side needs to be the second-best men's team in the country."
Prince, a former Proteas batsman, remains the head coach of the Cape Cobras.
- Compiled by Lynn Butler
