Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) will be releasing Johan Botha from his central contract after the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September.

The Twenty20 captain said it was a purely cricketing decision since he will be leading the South Australian team for the next two season, SAPA reported.

CSA's acting chief executive, Jacques Faul, in a statement said: "Johan has been an excellent servant of South African cricket for a lengthy period of time and we will never forget the manner in which he captained the Proteas to success in the absence of Graeme Smith in the away ODI series in Australia in 2009."

"He has fully committed himself to the Proteas for the next five months which includes the away series in Zimbabwe and England as well as the World Twenty20 and is, at the moment, our first choice spinner in the T20 format.

"However, he has had an offer to captain South Australia over the next two seasons and this will provide valuable opportunities in broadening his experience in a leadership role. I must stress that Johan remains fully committed to South African cricket in the long run and is by no means bringing down the curtain on his international career for the Proteas," he added.

Botha said he would still remain committed to the Proteas.

"I remain fully committed to the Proteas in the long term. But I would hate to look back on my career at the end and regret that I did not take this opportunity.It is purely a cricket decision and there is no financial incentive in accepting it. If anything I will be earning less than I would as a contracted player," he said.(IANS)