Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for interviews

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Geoff Lawson, the former Australian fast bowler, is a possible candidate to succeed Bob Woolmer as Pakistan’s coach and will fly to Islamabad for discussions.

Lawson said he was contacted at short notice about the job and was trying to obtain a visa from the Pakistan high commission in Canberra. He hoped to fly out this weekend “once the paper work has been done”.

“It’s a significant challenge,” Lawson told The Australian about coaching Pakistan. “They’re an underachieving team with plenty of talent. I’m flattered I’ve even been invited I suppose. I certainly haven’t been chasing it. At short notice they asked me to come to Islamabad for an interview.”

Lawson was among three candidates on Pakistan’s shortlist, along with Dav Whatmore and Richard Done, the former New South Wales fast bowler. Steve Rixon, the former New Zealand coach, told AFP that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) contacted him about the role but he had already made other plans.

Lawson, currently a commentator, took 180 wickets in 46 Tests between 1980 and 1989 before finishing his career as captain of New South Wales and later becoming their coach.

Done replaced Woolmer as the International Cricket Council’s high performance manager two and a half years ago, after Woolmer took up the Pakistan job. He played first-class cricket for New South Wales before beginning a successful coaching career in Australia.

© Cricinfo

So its between Lawson, Whatmore, and Done. Which one would u rather have?

If it was up to me, I think Lawson or Done are both good choices…but I’d definetly not go for Whatmore as he showed his real image while coaching BD and wanting to coach India while he was still coach of BD. I don’t want a coach like that. A coach like Lawson or Done with a fielding coach would be a good combo.

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

No Whatmore please, when he was in the running for India he also made cheap statements to the media saying he didn't wanted to coach Pakistan because they were an indisciplined side. So why is he interested in the job now?

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

^ bhukha na maaro bechare ko :hehe:

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Lawson looks more tilted towards bowling area than batting, which is of course our main concern. Actually we need a strategist who knows how to make use of strength of the team and how to remove the weaker points. Someone who could implant collective discipline into the team so that everyone walks a single line. Anyway, let's see who is it going to be.

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Whats happened to Tim Boon? Will these guys be simply be interviewed or will also make a presentation?

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

exactly, dont know why PCB has called him in...

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Looks like any Gora with a decent/semi-decent profile can fancy his chances.
Shame on us Desis.

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

For some strange reason i think its going to be Mr Done.

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Done interviewed for Pakistan coaching job

Cricinfo staff

June 17, 2007

Pakistan interviewed Richard Done, the former New South Wales bowler and ICC High Performance Manager, for the position of coach, a post they hope to fill in before the team tours Scotland in July. Done is one of three Australians on Pakistan’s shortlist, along with Dav Whatmore and Geoff Lawson.

“Done has been interviewed and in the final phase Whatmore and Lawson will be interviewed before making the final announcement shortly,” Ashraf told reporters.

Done, who took over as ICC’s High Performance Manager from Bob Woolmer in 2004 after the latter was appointed Pakistan’s coach, previously visited Pakistan in 2001 on a coaching assignment with the National Academy in Lahore. His main area of focus on that visit was to give guidance on coach training and suggestions on Academy work.

Apart from his stint with the ICC, Done also worked with the Australian Academy and the Queensland Academy of Sport. He played 10 first-class matches and took 21 wickets at 41.76. “Done has worked with Rodney Marsh in the highly praised Australian cricket academy,” said Ashraf.

© Cricinfo

link: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/298292.html

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Pakistan board eases Lawson’s safety concerns

Geoff Lawson has flown to Islamabad for an interview for the Pakistan coaching job. Lawson, who is one of three Australians being considered for the role, said his interest in the position had hinged on the results of the Bob Woolmer investigation.

Lawson was contacted at short notice for the interview and left Australia on Saturday night after receiving assurances over his safety if he was appointed. “I was told that my personal safety was guaranteed,” Lawson told The Sun-Herald. "The Pakistan cricket board have chased me, I haven’t chased them.
“Given what’s been revealed about Bob Woolmer - that he wasn’t murdered - it changes the story about the job. I don’t think my wife would be letting me go over there if the verdict had been murder.”

Lawson, who has previously coached New South Wales, said three weeks ago that “a thousand planets would have to align for me to take on that job”. However, the developments in the Woolmer case and Paksitan’s decision to chase Lawson appear to have changed his mind.

“I’ve made a lot of enquiries to a lot of people and I wouldn’t be going all the way to Islamabad unless it was a realistic proposition,” he said. “I’ve been told the initial reports about Bob were overblown and out of context. If I go over there, I’ll be working my bum off to make Pakistan the best side they can be.”

Lawson said he understood it would be a high-pressure role but that was to be expected in international coaching. “I would say the Indian job probably carried the most intense scrutiny in terms of the public,” Lawson said.

“In both jobs, you have a few losses and the heat is on. But it’s the same way in Australia, anywhere. I see Pakistan as a highly talented but underachieving side and that would be a great challenge for a coach, to get them playing at their best again. If there’s one thing they don’t lack, it’s potential.”

Pakistan have also shown interest in Richard Done, the former New South Wales fast bowler, and Dav Whatmore. The board hopes to have the new coach in place in time for the team’s tour of Scotland in July.

SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/298424.html

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Re: Lawson heads to Pakistan for interviews

Very tough interview indeed especially with following questions

  1. What coaching experience u have in past?
  2. What were the results?
  3. What attracts you most about this particular position?
  4. Do you like challanges? If yes, give us an example from your current job?
  5. Do you have sufficient information about cricket?
  6. What do you know about our local culture?
  7. How long would you be able to serve?

Here are the right answers

  1. I have coached 3 nation or club level teams in past (having coached a national side is bad answer, unless team won the world cup)
  2. We won the XYZ tournament twice etc
  3. I love challanges. I believe this current outfit is extremely talended and just need guidance
  4. Yes As I said before, I adore challanges. In my current job, I had to caoch a tea, of very inexperienced individuals. Many of them are now considered as future stars for not only the club (or domestic team) but to play for the national side.
  5. I have myself played international cricket. My online resume has a link to the cricinfo.com website, where you can see my international records.
  6. I have been here before and simply loved the people and food. The fact they are cricket crazy, makes my job more interesting
  7. Till death. Enough said.
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Re: Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for interviews

Whatmore heads to Pakistan for interviews

Dav Whatmore arrives in Pakistan on Wednesday hoping to push further his credentials as the next coach of Pakistan. Whatmore will be interviewed by the PCB on Thursday as a potential candidate for the position, the third Australian the board have interviewed this week.

Earlier in the week, Richard Done, the ICC high-performance manager and former New South Wales fast bowler, and Geoff Lawson, former Test cricketer, were also interviewed. Lawson yesterday visited the national team’s conditioning camp currently underway in Abbottabad, meeting with senior players and officials.

One of the three will become Pakistan’s coach though Zakir Khan, director operations PCB and a member of the three-man committee to find a coach, stressed again the decision will not be taken in haste.

Khan didn’t confirm that an appointment will be made by July 1, the date set by chairman Nasim Ashraf, to announce a new coach to succeed the late Bob Woolmer. “It is premature to give an exact date right now. After the interviews of the three, our committee will compile a report and present our choice to the chairman, who will take it to the ad-hoc committee. Only then will a decision be made,” Khan told Cricinfo.

The board has been tight-lipped about its preferences from the three in recent days. Khan said that the interviews had gone well and that all three had excellent qualifications. “They were shortlisted because of their qualifications and on the basis of past achievements.”

Until recently, Whatmore was understood to be the board’s top choice, the only hitch being his interest in the position of India coach. With that now out of the way, the path appears clear for Whatmore to take over here. But the board are said to be impressed by Done as well, and he would seemingly fit in with some officials’ wishes that the new coach be a low-key personality willing to prove himself internationally with Pakistan.

Meanwhile Javed Miandad, former captain and three-time coach, continued his criticism of the board’s policy for selecting a coach by pointing out that Lawson had not officially applied for the position.

Miandad disagreed with the board’s decision to publicly advertise the vacancy and invite applications arguing that no coach of substance would apply in such a way. Lawson made clear before arriving here that the Pakistan board had contacted him and not the other way round.

Miandad told Dawn, “Now I ask the PCB: where does it stand? Instead of considering the applications of those candidates who have applied for the post, it is contacting those who did not apply.”

SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/298689.html

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Re: Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for interviews

It would have been a good idea if they had invited big mouth Javed for interview and see what sort of answers he gives and compares to the other ‘professional and modern coaches’. At least they could have keep his mouth shut.

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Re: Hunt for Pakistan’s Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

The race is entering its final lap. Am I the only one still not against Whatmore? :bummer:

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Re: Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

how much do these coaches get paid?

Agar Tum Mil Jao !!
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Re: Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

I think Lawson would be a good coach. We need the Australian mentality, work ethic, mental toughness. Among the three candidates, Lawson is the one to have played Test cricket most recently. Granted the Australian team from the eighties wasn't too great, but he did get to play with the likes of Steve and Mark Waugh, Rod Marsh, Allan Border etc.

A question for married couples
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Re: Hunt for Pakistan’s Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

Dave Whatmore has attended his interview and later will meet the big boss Mr Ashraf (who may also sweet talk him and may be persuade him to become coach its national side).

After this he will go to Abbotabad to meet the jokers he may end up coaching.

I have a funny feeling that Whatmore will be the next coach.

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Re: Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

What's so funny about it Rocki baba? Just because he had shown his interest in coaching India, he has become a permanent pariah? Was it enough to wash out his entire credentials? How come someone who was so vehemently sought-after until recently, lost all his utility all of a sudden? Leave aside the Indian prism through which you have started to see him. I again repeat myself, everyone should have some room to commit some errors and get away with them.

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Re: Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

Nothing funny - I just think he will become the next coach of Pakistan. Why you get stressed for?

It could be one of u. So....
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Re: Hunt for Pakistan's Coach - Lawson, Done, Whatmore heads to Pakistan for intervie

...That how fast we start burning effigies :~) Take a chill pill rocki ;)