Hashim Amla has been appointed as the new Proteas captain for the Castle Lager Proteas test match squad, announced Cricket South Africa on Tuesday (CSA).

The bearded batsman will take over from Graeme Smith, where his first assignment will be to lead the Proteas to Sri Lanka next month for a two-match series.

After Kepler Wessels (1992), Amla is the fifth player to be appointed as captain, with Hansie Cronje (1994), Shaun Pollock (2000) and Smith (2003) having led the national team. Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince have also skippered the squad on a stand-in basis.

It was a two-horse race between AB de Villiers and Amla for the captaincy tag, and it has also been confirmed that the former will remain as vice-captain of the squad.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be given this responsibility. I would like to pay tribute to the leadership Graeme Smith has provided throughout my international career,” said Amla.

“This is an exciting challenge but one that I take on with positivity with our test team being in exceptionally good space at the moment with the support of a strong core of senior players.

“I have concentrated on taking my batting to the highest possible level and now I feel I am in a position to make a contribution to South African cricket in a leadership role.”