Gary Kirsten expected to be confirmed as new South Africa coach

Gary Kirsten, who is expected to be confirmed as South Africa's new coach in the next 24 hours, has already brought his influence to bear, persuading Allan Donald to become an assistant coach and encouraging the captain, Graeme Smith, to make a public apology for going to ground after a failed World Cup campaign. Kirsten declined a new contract as India coach in April, after leading them to victory in the World Cup on home soil, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He has come to an arrangement with Cricket South Africa, however, which may involve him handing over some responsibility on minor tours to Donald and a second assistant, Russell Domingo. Donald was on the verge of flying to New Zealand to sign a two-year contract as New Zealand's bowling coach, after fulfilling the role at the World Cup, but he pulled out at the last minute. Smith explained that his retreat from the limelight after the World Cup was due to stress and exhaustion after another failure in a major one-day tournament, in which he failed to reach 50 in seven innings and continued a slump in form over the past year. Smith did not return to South Africa after they were beaten in the quarter-finals, and also ended his regular messages on Twitter. Instead, he went to Ireland, where he proposed to Morgan Deane, and returned to India to play for Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League. "The emotional stress was something that I hadn't been through in my career," Smith said. "I felt it best to take a break from being stupid and saying stupid things."