AB de Villiers calls for a change in coaching staff

South Africa have already lost the ongoing Test series against England. England will go into Friday's clash at SuperSport Park 2-0 up in the four-match series. This is South Africa’s second successive series defeat after they lost another four-match Test series 3-0 against India. That defeat came after a nine-year undefeated spell away from home.

On the eve of the fourth Test against the Three Lions, the Proteas captain AB de Villiers said that he is keen to remain captain but he want to have discussions about strengthening the coaching staff before South Africa's next Test series against New Zealand in August. He said that he would like to see "a few smart heads" involved in the team's backup staff. He said, "I've seen a lot of talent come through. We just need to get a bit of experience and a few smart heads involved."

De Villiers was appointed as captain for the last two Tests of the series after Hashim Amla resigned from his captain’s role. Though he was only appointed for the last two Tests, he admitted that he was keen to remain involved. He said, "I am keen to play a big role going forward but it's not solely my decision."

De Villiers wants to meet Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat and convener of selectors Linda Zondi to find out exactly where they are going to go.

There has been a lot of criticism of the lack of hard experience in the South African coaching set-up, especially in the batting area. De Villiers agreed that a batting coach was a priority.

Keen to win the final Test: De Villiers

He said, "I think we have been a bit naive in believing we can just go on in the way we have been. We need to get a bit of advice and help, not only from a batting coach, a few other areas as well. That will all be discussed after the series. We have a nice break and time to think about things."

The South African captain was keen to win the final Test. He said, "There are no dead rubbers when it comes to Test match cricket. We'd hate to lose 3-0. I think 2-1 sounds a lot better. We haven't won a Test match for 12 months. We are rebuilding a bit and trying to find our feet but it's time for us to wake up and play proper cricket."

The 31-year-old confirmed that specialist opening batsman Stephen Cook would be in the team. He also hinted that seamer Kyle Abbott would come back into the side along with off-spinner Dane Piedt.

The Pretoria-born cricketer added that although England seems to know what they are doing, there is no doubt in his mind that there are weaknesses there. When asked to elaborate, he said, "The batting unit is not 100 percent the best in the world. I believe we can find a few cracks in the batting line-up.”