Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi wants the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to appoint department-specific coaches under a 'powerful' manager as opposed to naming a single head coach to succeed Waqar Younis.
The former fast-bowler's sudden announcement left the PCB in shock who need to find his replacement after the Zimbabwe tour as the board contemplates whether to name a foreign or a local coach.
Afridi, who retired from international cricket after he was stripped of captaincy, wants the board to do away with a single coach appointment but instead wants them to place a manager under who the batting, bowling and fielding coaches will work.
"Not appointing a head coach will be the best decision," Afridi told The Express Tribune from London where he is preparing for Hampshire's Friends Provident Twenty20 semi-final. "There should, instead, be a strong and competent manager along with assistant coaches."
Afridi, who developed serious differences with Younis on selection matters that prompted the board to take away the captain's arm-band, felt that the new formula will help avoid controversies.
"The assistant coaches will focus solely on their jobs rather than get involved in other issues. The manager will be there to look after everything. Matters will become simpler and things will go smoothly."
Coach of Woolmer's calibre required
The all-rounder added that if the PCB goes ahead and appoint a single coach at the helm, then a coach of Bob Woolmer's calibre should be appointed.
"I won't go into the debate of whether the PCB should hire a foreign or a local coach. Pakistan just need a qualified coach. The team needs a coach like Woolmer who was qualified and had plenty of experience.
"I remember easily that no players had any major issues under Woolmer. He used to keep his focus on the job without having any agendas on the side."
Lawson agrees on formula
Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has agreed with the idea of appointing department-specific coaches instead of a single head coach.
“A coach is a must but it should be someone to oversee discussion and planning, prepare the system and the training camp and that’s the role of a coach at international level,” Lawson told The Express Tribune. “However, if you want to get the best out of the team, you need a batting and a bowling coach, and other people assisting. The skills involved in cricket are so different that you need specific knowledge of what is going on.”
Lawson, who coached Pakistan to the final of the 2007 World Twenty20, was sacked 15 months into his appointment by Ijaz Butt when he took up office at the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2008.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS (7)
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Basically the model what Afridi is suggesting is already there in England where Andy Flower is that 'strong manager' under whom there are several coaches including batting coach, fast bowling coach, spin bowling coach (Mushtaq Ahmed), fielding coach etc. In Pakistan too this can work. For example we can have an strong manager in the shape of Intikhab Alam, under which anyone from Javed Miandad / Inzimam / Saeed Anwar /Zaheer Abbas can be batting coach........Wasim Akram / Aqib Javed / Sarfaraz Nawaz can be the contenders of bowling coach......Saqlain Mushtaq / Abdul Qadir can be spin bowling coaches........and any foreign coach is needed to be there as a fielding coach.......Rashid Lateef / Moin Khan as Wicket Keeping coaches....etc.
Maryam , i am agree with your comments. well said.. to Afridi..
I think Afridi is right. PCB should appoint a manager who can look over the team's progress and select a team whereas other assisting coaches will be assigned to do specific jobs like batting coaches, bowling coaches, fielding coaches, a team for fitness purpose to look over the team's fitness and everything. With a well and organized system we can go a long way.
Pak Board should appoint energetic and wll qualified coach i thik dat s jonty Rhodes and Chappal
yes the hunt for a head coach is already on. I think the leading criteria is an essential requirement that the candidate must have been born around Lahore or the Central Punjab region.
Afridi should keep his nose out of this coach business , he is not the captain anymore!