McKenzie retired from first-class cricket last week after the Lions agreed to release him from his contract, and he is currently playing in the Masters Champions League T20 in Dubai.

National coach, Russell Domingo, admitted after the Test series against England that they had approached several candidates for the role of batting coach over the last year, but that they were turned down.

The 40-year-old McKenzie scored over 19 000 runs in 280 first class games as well as 3 253 runs in 58 Tests for the Proteas.

Amla says he has a long history with Mackie and feels he may be the right man for the job.

"I can’t say if it’s going to happen, but if that proves to be the case, then I’ll be very happy.

"I’ve played with Neil a lot and he is a highly respected player and a person who will definitely be an asset to the national set-up.

"He is a student of the game and with his experience he’ll be able to add value."

The Proteas face England today in the third ODI and Amla added with South Africa, trailing the series two-nil, they effectively have to win three finals.

“Losing the Test matches was a blow.

"We had a few setbacks with injuries and a few other things. We didn’t play our best Test cricket. Similarly in one-day cricket we haven’t performed this series, it would be a blow for us to not win this series.

"At the moment we are not thinking about it, for us our focus is on the next match which is tomorrow.

"If we win this match, get some momentum for the next one and then hopefully win the one in Cape Town. That is how we are envisioning our progress from here."

Today’s 3rd ODI at SuperSport Park in Centurion gets underway at 13:30.

Morgan Piek/OFM News