South Africa spinner Johan Botha will miss out on the unofficial T20 tour to Zimbabwe this month because of a knee injury, but is hopeful of playing against England in August.

Botha, who was going to captain the side against the Zimbabweans and Bangladesh in the absence of AB de Villiers, picked up the injury during training and was advised to fully recover ahead of the England trip.

Botha told Cricinfo: "I got a ball to the knee and didn't think much of it but I was told to go for an MRI when I got home.

"The damage got all the way to the patella [knee cap] and although I can cycle and do most things, the South Africa management was concerned that if I got hit on the knee again or was injured during fielding, that would prolong the recovery [period].

Hashim Amla will replace Botha as skipper on the trip, and a disappointed Botha added: "Even though I was only captaining because AB wouldn't be there, I was really looking forward to it.

"The Zimbabwe series is important, but for me it may have been a little far out in terms of time. Hopefully, I'll play in England and get some cricket in there before Sri Lanka.

"In terms of team combinations, it is disappointing to miss the Zimbabwe series, but I'll still play before [the World Twenty20]."

South Africa's first game on the Zim trip will be against Bangladesh on 19 June.