Related Link : Geoff Lawson
Pakistan have finally found a Coach for their National Side ever since the sad demise of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup. Geoff Lawson, the former Australian fast bowler has been appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board as the National Coach. The 49-year-old man from New South Wales has been selected ahead of Dav Whatmore and Richard Done. It is believed that Geoff Lawson had the backing of the Pakistani players whereas the same wasn’t the case with the experienced Dav Whatmore. Lawson has been given a two-year contract by the Pakistan Board.
Geoff Lawson’s first assignment with the Pakistani team will be the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa followed with a home series against the Proteas. His biggest challenge will come against Pakistan’s arch rivals India in a full tour. For Lawson, this is the first time that he would be the coach of an international side. Previously he was the Coach for New South Wales but that was for just a two year tenure between 1995-1997.
As a player, Geoff Lawson had played 46 Tests and 79 ODIs with decent results. He has taken 180 Test wickets and 88 ODI wickets in an international career that has spanned nine years. He becomes the 12th Coach of the Pakistani team in the last ten years! Lawson has stated that he will straightaway get into the act as he is going to head towards Lahore within a month to kickstart the Twenty20 preparations. He has also told that he would bringing some personnel of his from Australia to assist him in his work.
Player Contracts announced- Inzy ignored!
Former Pakistan Captain Inzamam’s name has gone missing in the contracted players’ list released by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The Board has insisted that it doesn’t mean that Inzamam is ruled out of selection for the future Test Series. Inzamam’s downfall is said to be due to his retirement from the limited overs version of the game after the World Cup. It is learnt that the PCB wants to bring in young blood in both Tests and ODIs. Twenty players have been awarded the central contract placed in three different categories. The Category A players will get a Rs 2.5 lakhs monthly retainer, Category B a Rs 1.5 lakhs and Category C a Rs 1 lakh retainer along with the match fees. The PCB has also decided to encourage young talent by announcing a Rs 50,000 monthly retainer for 20 players on the fringes of national selection, however the names of those players haven’t been finalised.
Category A : Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Asif.
Category B : Salman Butt, Mohammad Sami, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria and Kamran Akmal.
Category C : Imran Nazir, Iftikhar Anjum, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq and Yasir Arafat.