Steve Rixon not to be Pakistan Coach

Steve Rixon has pulled himself out of contention for the coaching position in Pakistan. It appears that the natural death of Woolmer secondary to high degrees of stress perhaps, may have precipitated it. Seems like Sri Lanka is the only job foreigners want related to cricket in the Sub-continent.

Javed Miandad: You can't coach a Test Cricketer

I really feel that I have a love-flabbergasted relationship with Javed Miandad. If anyone was ever to ask me, I would say without a shadow of a doubt, that Javed Miandad is Pakistan's greatest cricketer. He is perhaps not our most talented, or our most fluent or our most electrifying player, but he is our greatest cricketer, hands down. I have always loved the fact that with sheer force of will, he would change the entire demeanour of a match.

Yet, almost regularly, Javed Miandad says something which makes me scratch my head and go what the heck! This comment in an interview with The News is one such comment. According to Miandad, it appears that test cricketers cannot be coached! What the heck! Amazing, really amazing.

Salman Butt acknowledges Coaching

Listen good Shahid Afridi, Listen Good! Coaching can help!

Shahid, Shahid, Shahid Afridi!

So, first Ramiz Raja said that Pakistan didn't need a coach. And now, there's Shahid Afridi. Interestingly, the Patakh Pathan didn't say that Pakistan didn't need any coaches. At least he was willing to accept that a fielding coach is needed for the squad! Seriously, Shahid, I think with this attitude I don't see any kind of future in cricket administration or team management for you. For my thoughts on coaching, check out this article, and this one.

Tim Boon to coach Pakistan?

Who is Tim Boon? Here is Cricinfo's summary on the man, and to be honest, I don't know enough about him to be able to form any judgement. No promises, but I will try to do my due diligence on the man.

Update: Here is BBC's report on the man, after he was hired as coach for Leicestershire. Sounds promising enough, I guess.

Coaching and Pakistan

As the PCB purports to be looking for a new coach, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has already made an offer to one of Pakistan's star candidates, Aaqib Javed. Who knows who they will finally select, but as Pakistan goes forward to search and setup a proper coaching staff for their team, I thought I would refer you all to a previous post I had posted when people were criticizing Waqar Younis for the package he was given, in his short but productive stint as bowling coach.

Aaqib to fly the roost?

Well, it appears that the Bangladeshi cricket powers that be are so impressed by the performance of the Pakistan Academy coach Aaqib Javed, that they have offered him their bowling coach position.

The PCB needs to decide fairly soon what they are planning to do with the coaching portfolio, and allot it, before the other cricketing nations appoint their picks and Pakistan is left with slim pickings at the end.

Aaqib wants the coaching job

In an interview in Bangladesh, Aaqib Javed comes out and confirms what Imran Khan and a few others have been saying: He wants the job. He might be the most qualified for the job due to a variety of reasons: experience with the U-15 and U-19 squads, the highest trained coach in Pakistan, internationally accredited. And as he comments here, he has had a lot of experience working with a number of players in the team: Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif. He might be the only choice at this stage in the game.

Pakistan doesn't need coaches!

How I feel about the need for coaches, I had highlighted in this previous post about a year ago. Now, when that was happening, Pakistan's performance in the international circuit was quiet reasonable, and things were not falling apart like they have over the past six months. Regardless, Rameez Raja, who is getting ever greater prestige on the commentary circuit, and on CricInfo, feels that Pakistan can do without a coach!

I find this comment just preposterous. No international sporting team, not even the Maldives shuffleboard team, plays without a coach, and somehow Rameez wants us to buy his premise that the Pakistani squad can manage without a coach, and our players are so special and so talented that they need no further guidance or direction in the technical aspects of their game. That is just a crock. Sorry, Rameez, you've just got to do better than that.

Miandad the next coach?

Well, we all knew it was going to be said sooner or later. I just didn't expect it to be so soon! In an interview, Viv Richards, one of the most dynamic captains and batsmen in cricket history, has fairly candidly tipped Javed Miandad as perhaps the best candidate for the Pakistan coaching position.

Quote: "He could do the job, purely because of his love and passion for Pakistan cricket," Richards told BBC Sport. "Every time I have met him I have been impressed by his desire to see a successful Pakistan team."

While Miandad might be a good choice, he may just be too divisive a figure in Pakistani cricket to take the job at such a critical juncture. Javed Miandad's qualities which made him an excellent team mate and a fantastic cricketer for Pakistan, are the same qualities that make him a tough coach. An unrelenting drive to succeed, an intolerance for failure or for those who do not have the same drive to succeed, and aiming and driving to perfection in any and all circumstances. This is why after being appointed coach three times, he has been fired each and every time, and almost always after near rebellion from players. Somehow, I just don't think that this is a good idea.

Mushy's nose gets mushed up

Poor Mushtaq. I have never been a fan of his as a coach, but the poor guy now has a broken nose. Gotta hurt!

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, mushtaq ahmed, world cup

Pakistan and Foreign Coaches

Rashid Latif makes some interesting points about how the practices of foreign coaches may not be suitable to the needs of subcontinental players. While, in a way it does seem a tad illogical to me, but then this image of Kamran Akmal pops up: doing leg raises with his flip-flop chappals on. Maybe Rashid Latif has a point?

I still continue to feel that aren't players just players? Maybe the Pakistani players are a little bit behind in the fitness game when they start in professional cricket, but do they really have different needs? I'll have to think about that.

Miandad not keen on tips

So, the Rocky of Pakistani Cricket, Javed Miandad feels that this is neither the time nor the place to give tips to the players. Further, he felt that that invitation from the PCB is open-ended without any actual purpose or direction. This probably speaks more to the PCB's and Dr. Nasim Ashraf's attempts at damage control, so that if there is a negative result at the World Cup, then they can say "Well, we tried to get Javed and Imran and everyone else to help out, so don't blame us". Maybe it would have helped if Waqar Younis had been retained as a bowling coach, and if the team had had a competent trainer over the past few years. Javed Miandad, I think, isn't wrong in not wanting to go to the training camp. I think he has been quiet generous in saying that he would be happy to discuss and help any player who wants to speak to him. Thanks, Javed.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, pakistan cricket board, world cup, javed miandad

Mushtaq acknowledges the loss of Waqar

Honest quote from Mushtaq Ahmed, at a press conference after landing in Karachi:

"team’s assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed acknowledged that the performance of fast bowlers was affected due to the absence of bowling coach Waqar Younis, who was forced to resign, before the start of the South African tour after developing some differences with the PCB chief Dr Nasim Ashraf."

If only the PCB would actually realize how much they may be harming the future of the game, without truly having a coach who can connect with the young pace bowlers of the country. A win or success in the World cup would do no more than put duct tape on the actual lack of planning and preparation, the actual issue at hand.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, pakistan cricket board, waqar younis, mushtaq ahmed

The Controversy about Woolmer

I must say, when I first reported, courtesy of Dawn that Shoaib Akhtar was seeking an apology from Bob Woolmer, not for one moment did I seriously think, as Dawn reported, that Woolmer had called Shoaib Akhtar a "blacky". It just seemed so outlandish for a person who coached South Africa in the post-apartheid era, worked with multiple black players at that point, and then has coached Pakistan for the last many years. His comments and interviews about Pakistani players have always been caring ones, and never even condescending in any way. And lets not forget, this occurred with Shoaib, the same guy who maybe, could have, perhaps slapped Woolmer in India?

So, despite all the hoopla over this, I find that comment really hard to believe, and I intend to give it no credence. That being said, if it is untrue, Woolmer should take Dawn to the cleaners. Kamran Abbasi's thoughts on this are also interesting.

P.S. Whoever leaked this story, should be hung upside down from Kalapul in Karachi.

Woolmer - Shoaib row?

This is starting to get really bizarre. It appears that at the beginning of the second day, there was an obvious altercation in the dressing room between Woolmer and Shoaib Akhtar. While Talat Ali, as team manager, is going to probe the issue to get to the bottom of this, Zee News and the Telegraph are reporting that the problem occurred when Shoaib informed Woolmer that he would be unable to bowl in the second innings, despite looking fine while batting that day. Woolmer is supposed to have taken Shoaib to task for saying he was fit, when perhaps was not ready to stand up to the rigours of the game. Hard to say what is the truth here, but like I said in an earlier post, isn't this just completely emblematic of Shoaib's career.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, bob woolmer, shoaib akhtar

Bob Woolmer unhappy, too much cricket

I have rarely found Bob Woolmer to be frank and forthright, but here he comes right out, and criticises the ICC's international schedule, and the PCB for trying to cram in so many matches. Good on you Bob.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, icc, pakistan cricket board, bob woolmer

Aaqib in, Waqar out, Shoaib back in, What is up with Inzamam

What is going on here? For a few days, I decide to pull away from Pakistani cricket, because it was supposed to be a quiet few days. Most of the players away at Hajj, a quiet warm-up match in South Africa, where the bowlers and young batsmen were expected to go through their paces and get all ready for the upcoming series.

Now that I examine the issue and happenings with a four-day retrospect-o-scope (I know, its my own word!), things may be beginning to make a little bit of sense, and I dare say, that it doesn't really make anyone look too good.

First of all, banally enough, the PCB announced the appointment of Aaqib Javed, as the Chief Coach at the National Cricket Academy. There were of course the usual issues of lack of process, with no advertisements being placed, no applications sought, in short really no due process. While I have criticised the PCB in the past for exactly this kind of behaviour, I was ready to cut them some slack in this particular issue as Aaqib does appear to be the most qualified coach in the country, and had a substantial hand in coaching Mohammad Asif and a few other bowlers in the second tier.

Then came a reasonably good start to the tour, with the much maligned Imran Farhat (even by myself!) and Mohammad Hafeez putting on 182 for the first wicket and both hitting centuries. And then, on the weekend, the wheels fell off the bus.

While Wasim Bari, Chief Selector, was returning from the Hajj and Iqbal Qasim was recovering from a heart attack, Waqar Younis went postal on Dr. Nasim Ashraf. As was reported here, Mushtaq Ahmed was rehired as Assistant Coach, and there was some strangeness about the fact that Waqar Younis was not going to be retained for the One Day series against South Africa. Well, there just wasn't strangeness, Waqar wasn't too happy about it! After he returned from the Hajj as well (was every Pakistani who is involved with cricket in Saudi Arabia?), Waqar in a telephone conversation huffed and puffed, and then resigned. Then, in an exclusive interview with Dawn, he lambasted the PCB and Dr. Nasim Ashraf for treating him in an absurd manner, while the PCB responded with cries of "unprofessionalism", and saying that he left for the Hajj to take an unauthorized holiday, and "missed" the conditioning camp. What about Bob Woolmer, and the physio, and Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi and Wasim Bari (chief selector, but I think I mentioned that before!), who also missed the conditioning camp. No one has ever accused the PCB of consistency, but come ON!

Waqar Younis has been hailed at every step by the young bowlers as being helpful, and the fast bowling performance against the West Indies is testament to that. Rana Naved, Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir all bowled well, and maintained their skills over the period. After a few months, no one can contend that Waqar Younis has not been doing his job. Waqar has been highly sought by first class teams in Australia, who aren't exactly short on coaching resources, so his skills are sough after. Instead, the PCB elected to fire Waqar and take Mushtaq Ahmed, a man who has no history in coaching, who was implicated in the Qayyum Commission, and who's only contribution to the team may be his ability to lead them in prayers.

If all of this wasn't enough, after getting to South Africa, Umar Gul pulled up lame with an ankle injury, which may in fact be much more severe than thought, and there is some thought that if the coaches and selectors had done their job, they may have seen this in the conditioning camp. Shoaib Malik also turned his ankle the wrong way, and will miss atleast the first test. Mohammad Yousuf also had to stay back in Pakistani for his wife, who is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. So, the team management in South Africa, decided to send for bowling help, who would they ask for? Shoaib Akhtar.

Yes, the very same Shoaib Akhtar who was dismissed as "unfit", and who since then had only bowled once in a first class match against tame opposition. Shoaib took this all in stride, spoke of his desire to play for the team, and tried desperately to find a flight to South Africa, albeit with little success. So, all of the drama precipitated by Inzamam and the selectors quickly faded away, leaving them all looking like morons and Shoaib being seen as the proverbial Knight in Shining Armour.

The injuries to Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf are perhaps somewhat more concerning, but as Kamran Abbasi puts it, this may be a real opportunity for the young batsmen, Hafeez, Farhat, Faisal Iqbal and Yasir Hameed to assert themselves and show that they belong in the highest echelon of cricket. Look for Hafeez, Faisal and Yasir to come good here, Shoaib to redeem himself, Mushtaq Ahmed to be fired again and the PCB to continue to look like the head-cut-off chickens that they are.

Mushtaq Ahmed named as Assistant Coach

I am just not sure what to think. For the past few months, every time Mushtaq Ahmed has been brought back into the squad as a player or as a coach, I have opposed it, and I have cheered every time he has been sacked, and well, now he has been brought back in as Assistant coach. More intriguingly, he has been asked to stay on till the end of the tour, while Waqar Younis, the bowling coach is only being asked to stay on till the end of the Test series.

So, what the PCB expects us to buy, is that a team which plans on relying on its pace bowling for the tour, which has no fast bowlers with any experience (I don't think Sami counts as being a bowler with experience!), will be best served by a leg spinner as assistant coach, with the bowling coach, who has been of benefit over the last while, being sent home after just the test series. The PCB will never cease to amaze me.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, pakistan cricket board, mushtaq ahmed, waqar younis

Waqar comments on ball fiasco

Waqar Younis speaks in Sydney