Jones has been reported to have made it a five-man shortlist for the job along with former Pakistan fast-bowler Aqib Javed and former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve. The position became vacant after Waqar Younis resigned from the position citing personal reasons.
Jones, who has played 52 Tests for his country, lacks coaching experience but is still ready to take on the challenge of coaching a Pakistan side that has seen its fair share of controversies in recent times.
The spot-fixing scandal, the inability of the team to play home matches because of security concerns and the recent row between former captain Shahid Afridi and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have made the job of coaching the team a difficult one, but Jones is ready to look beyond all the controversies.
‘’Take out what’s happened with the betting scandal and take out the security problems, everyone in the world who knows cricket knows they’ve always had a wonderful pool of talent,” Jones told The Age. “It’s just a matter of getting the culture right, getting them to take ownership of their actions, working together and who knows, they could win a World Cup [in four years time].’’
‘Focus on defence needed’
The former batsman made it clear that if appointed to the job, he would establish a stable environment and a culture of tough love in the team. He said that he would also try to entice Afridi out of retirement and focus on instilling a more defensive mindset in the team.
‘’Ultimately it comes down to the defensive part of their game that needs to be worked on, and that comes down to proper drills and attention to detail.” Jones was aware of the kind of pressures he might be subjected to in the job but felt that a proactive approach could help him.
‘’The PCB is passionate, they don’t like losing and they tend to be reactive instead of proactive but if you paint the picture early as to where we want to go – we’ve got to find stability, pick our best 16 or 17 players and work with them -– I think they’ll do very well.’’
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.
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The match fixing part is what worries me. He was linked to match fixing during his playing days and that did affect his playing career
He called Hashim Amla a terrorist. :-)
Pakistan need sincere coach no matter local or foreign.
@sahar A., it was rather Mr. Chappel who talked rubbish about afridi, not Jones. But he is controversial when it come to people to have beards :)
He's a tough as nail kind of guy. Would certainly kick a few backsides and that's what Pakistan cricket needs more than anything else. But can you forget his "terrorist" gibe at Amla in 2006?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD1Q4lSkQtU
Jones was himself involved in match fixing and racial comments while commentating for Ten Sports. He was fired for his comments.
@ sahar A: i think the cricketer who overly and at times, wrongly criticized Pakistan and the way Afridi posed and talked during the world cup was Ian Chappell, not Dean Jones.
Foreign coach is helpful , think about Dev Wat Moore.
not him. dermot reeve is better choice than jones
@sahar A.: You can't neglect a person who point out your negativity. Pakistan has performed well under foreign coaches but the politics in PCB will never elect him. As we seen Mohsin Khan has been appointed as Pakistan Cricket team coach now he will enjoy coach as well selection committee perks. This all is money game they don't wanna lose this worthy paper at any cost.
Cricket teams need strong captains more than anything else... fuss about coach surprises me.
We need a foreign coach like dean jones. He was a great one day batsman and has attacking instinct that Pakistan lack. He is also neutral so he wont be favoring particular players. PCB should go with him instead of a national coach, because that always results in infighting and ego issues between the coach and players.
I fully support Jones, he seems to be a wonderful man with good insight of the game. We definitely need a foreign coach.