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Cape Town - Former Proteas batsman Stiaan van Zyl admitted that although he is settled in England, he has not completely written South African cricket off.
Van Zyl signed a three-year Kolpak deal in 2016 with Sussex, which means he is ineligible to play for South Africa in international cricket.
The 31-year-old played 12 Tests for the Proteas from 2014-2016 - scoring 395 runs at an average of 26.33.
Despite ending all ties of ever donning the green and gold, Van Zyl revealed that he would still like to play for his domestic franchise, the Cape Cobras.
"I've not written off South African cricket entirely - I might play one format - but I won't do a whole season back home because I now realise I have to take a break somewhere," Van Zyl told Sussex's official website.
"Sussex is my main contract, I want to play for the club for a few more years yet and hopefully this approach will add a few years on my county career."
READ: Former Proteas batsman eyes future in umpiring
Earlier this year, Van Zyl became a Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) official, umpiring during the ongoing WPCA 2018/19 season.
Van Zyl told his English county that he would like to pursue umpiring after his cricketing career ends.
"Umpiring is my long-term goal after cricket. This break was the perfect opportunity to do my exams and to stand on weekends. I would like to go into umpiring full-time when I retire in six- or eight-years' time and give back to the game a little bit," he said.
"I think I've got that temperament of standing in the field, being alert and concentrating for a long period of time. In South Africa, we're looking for ex-cricketers to become umpires because they've got a natural feel for the game. I love the game and it's a way of staying involved, but there's a lot of cricket for me to play yet."
