Former coach questions ‘patriotism’of ‘foreigner’
FORMER Pakistan coach Javed Miandad has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board in the wake of the appointment of Australian Geoff Lawson as the teams coach.
Miandad, who had three spells in charge of the Pakistan team until 2004, questioned Lawson’s “patriotism” towards the team and argued a home-grown coach should have succeeded the late Bob Woolmer.
“How can you expect a foreigner to have the patriotism a Pakistani does?”, he said.
“Instead of bringing in foreigners the Pakistan board should first try to improve the grass-root cricket level.
“If foreign coaches can guarantee a certain level of performance, fine. Otherwise it is a waste of money.”
PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf admitted Lawson’s bowling past was a major factor in being chosen ahead of Richard Done and Dav Whatmore.
But Miandad, who has openly criticized the PCB in the past, said the perfect choice out of the three would have been Whatmore.
“Even if you want to hire a foreigner, then why not do it on merit? If merit is the benchmark then Whatmore knows subcontinental teams better than Lawson,” said Miandad.
Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam also hit out at the appointment saying: “I have nothing against Lawson but he should be prepared for a lot of criticism and a hard time.
“The board should first try to find out if we really need a foreign coach and then take a decision.”
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