Former West Indian Ottis Gibson has been appointed as South Africa's head coach across all three formats. His contract will run from mid-September, when he will start preparing the squad for the home series against Bangladesh, and continue until the conclusion of the ICC World Cup in mid-2019.
Gibson will replace Russell Domingo, who has been in the role of Proteas head coach since May 2013 and his contract expired with the recently concluded Test tour of England which the Faf du Plessis-led side lost 1-3.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) also announced that Domingo will now take on the role of head coach of the South Africa A side while the current incumbent, Shukri Conrad, will return to his previous full-time position as head coach of the Powerade National Academy.
While announcing the news, CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat revealed that the country's cricket board has come to the decision following a rigorous process.
"After following a rigorous process, we are delighted to welcome Ottis Gibson as the new head coach for the Proteas. His playing and coaching credentials are impressive and that will place the Proteas in good hands as we move towards a big home summer with both India and Australia visiting us. Having spent a great part of his playing career in South Africa, Ottis is familiar with our country and that should help him to settle in quickly with our national team," Lorgat said.
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Russell Domingo for his positive contributions during his time with the Proteas and I am delighted he will remain in our setup as head coach of the South Africa A side. This is an important position that prepares our up-and-coming players in the next stage of their journey to become potential Proteas," he added.
Ecstatic to join South Africa as head coach, Gibson said, "I am delighted to embark on this new chapter in my coaching career and I would like to thank Cricket South Africa for giving me this opportunity and the England and Wales Cricket Board for their understanding of my position. I have spent a number of happy times in South Africa as a player and I am now looking forward to return as a coach."
Gibson is currently serving as the bowling coach of the England Test team and has previously served as head coach of the West Indies.
The 48-year-old had a distinguished playing career for the West Indies, representing them in two Test matches - the second of which was the New Year Test at Newlands in 1999 - and 15 ODIs as an all-rounder between 1995 and 1999.
In addition, he played more than 400 matches, principally for his native Barbados, across the three formats that included spells with Border, Gauteng and Northern Cape (Griqualand West) as well as several England counties.
