Advertisement

Whatmore`s proposed appointment as coach evokes mix response

The planned appointment of a foreign coach for the Pakistan cricket has evoked mix response from the former players with Rameez Raja backing the Board`s move while others criticising it.

Lahore: The planned appointment of a foreign coach for the Pakistan cricket has evoked mix response from the former players with Rameez Raja backing the Board`s move while others criticising it.
Media reports have said some players did not want Dav Whatmore as coach but Rameez claimed that the majority of the players in the national squad will back such a move. He, however, did not elaborate on whether the board had taken captain Misbah-ul-Haq or other senior players under confidence while deciding on a foreign coach. Rameez who was the advisor on the special committee appointed by the board to identify and recommend names of potential coaches said that if a vote was held in the team 99 percent of the players would back the appointment of Whatmore. "The PCB wants the best in the business and I don’t think Whatmore be a bad choice," he said while denying that he had negotiated directly with Whatmore on behalf of the board. "I don`t think the players are against his appointment so the PCB won`t have any issues with that," he added. But former captain and ex-chief selector Aamir Sohail said he did not support the Board`s decision to go for a foreign coach at this stage. "I have nothing against Whatmore but if they wanted him they should have appointed him before the England series. If reports that he wants to go to the UAE to observe the players in the England series are true than I am afraid it will create problems in the dressing room," he said. Sohail insisted that when the Pakistan team was playing like a well oiled unit and Mohsin Khan had done a good job as coach there appeared no reason to remove him at this stage. Former test spinner Iqbal Qasim who worked as chief selector until 2010 said he didn`t support the appointment of a foreign coach simply because they do not understand the Pakistan cricket culture. "Our cricket culture is different. Our language is different and I think the biggest problem in appointing a foreign coach is that he will have communication problems with the players," Qasim said. Whatmore is due to arrive in Lahore around January 15 to hold final negotiations and finalise the terms and conditions of his contract. Former PCB Chairman Tauqir Zia also did not support the appointment of Whatmore or any foreign coach. "We have experimented with Richard Pybus, Bob Woolmer and Geoff Lawson and we had no big results to show from these experiments. Now when the team is doing well under Mohsin why try to change the coaching staff and bring in Whatmore," he said. PTI