Chairman's Corner: Answers to key questions by Pakistan Cricket Board

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Event:

Pakistan in India 2004/05

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DateLine: 5th April 2005

 

What are your reactions to team performance in India?
Ans: Since returning from Australia, the team has shown great team spirit and a fighting attitude which was manifest in Mohali and led to the squaring of the series through a highly merited victory in Bangalore. Even in the Kolkata match that we lost, except for the third day we performed with credit. The team has reacted maturely to the crises faced and Younis Khan has confirmed his position as batsman/vice-captain.

 

Are you satisfied with the performance of Coach Bob Woolmer?
Ans: At the outset, let me state that Bob Woolmer has been in the saddle since July, 2004 which is exactly 9 months. I am amazed that experienced cricketers and writers should be making conclusive judgements on the basis of this 9-month period. Allow me to recall that it took Duncan Fletcher almost five years to bring England to the current second position in Test rankings and as genuine challengers to Australia in the forthcoming Ashes. It took Bob Simpson six years during the Hughes-Border captaincy to bring a post-Packer laughing stock team to its present level. Next door, John Wright has been in the saddle for four years and before bringing India to a competitive level.

 

Therefore, to judge Woolmer on the basis of 9 month period is ludicrous and smacks of vested-interest posturing. As regards his performance during his 9 months, any rational cricket analyst will be able to see the difference between Pakistan's abject performance in Multan and Rawalpindi Test matches last year and the fighting spirit that Woolmer has built up in Australia and now in India. I am therefore extremely satisfied with the results and when the team plays in the 2007 World Cup, I am sure our young team will be capable of giving optimum results.

 

Do you not believe in having a domestic national coach who would be respected because of his cricketing eminence by the team and his ability to communicate better than a foreigner?
Ans: First of all, a national coach must have the professional credentials to coach a national side. Bob Woolmer obviously has these credentials which are backed up by a proven record of success. Across the world, there is not a single famous cricketer who is coaching a national side; in fact many super-stars have been employed as coaches and have not been successful, e.g. Kapil Dev, Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gary Sobers, etc. Looking around the world, New Zealand have John Bracewell, Australia have John Buchanan, Bangladesh have Dav Whatmore (who coached Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup triumph), Sri Lanka have John Dyson, India have John Wright and Pakistan have Bob Woolmer, none of whom can be graded as super-stars and have not played Test cricket with distinction. Some like Fletcher and Buchanan have barely played first-class cricket. South Africa have Ray Jennings who has also played Test cricket occasionally. In England and West Indies, the current coaches have barely played first-class cricket.

 

As regards communication, our players who have played county cricket over the years know sufficient English to interact with the coach Similarly, the top executive posts in all 10 Test playing countries are being held by persons experienced in management and organisation and not a single head of any cricketing board is a Test or first-class cricketer except for Teddy Griffith of West Indies who also played no Test matches.

 

What is your response to the hectic travelling schedule for the Pakistan team for the current Indian tour?
Ans: First of all it is an established ICC principle that between ODIs, a team would travel for one day, use the following day for rest and practice and play a match on the third day. In a large country like India, the travelling time usually takes a longer period than in any other cricket playing country. Ideally therefore, it would be preferable to allow an extra day for rest and practice. However, all teams are working under tight schedules and a delay of even 3-4 days is virtually impossible to arrange between tours. For example, Pakistan could not stay on in India for a longer period because it would clash with our commitments for minimum rest to the players before they proceeded to the West Indies.

 

Secondly because of the Supreme Court case, BCCI was not permitted to decide on venues until a fortnight before the tour began, leaving no time to make adjustment in the itineraries.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 Pakistan Cricket Board)