Lawson hops aboard Rawalpindi Express
PAKISTAN coaching hopeful Geoff Lawson believes the volatile country can produce the best team in the world if express paceman Shoaib Akhtar stays fit for extended periods.
After being interviewed in Pakistan this week for the position, the former Australia paceman had a long conversation with Shoaib at a training camp and watched him bowl.
“He’s a vital cog to them being top of the tree,” Lawson said. “At 32, he’s still got two or three very good years left in him.”
Lawson’s return to Australia yesterday coincided with Dav Whatmore meeting Pakistani officials to discuss coaching the national team.
Whatmore, a former Australia batsman who coached Sri Lanka twice before spending four years with Bangladesh, is the last of three Australians to be interviewed for the position.
International Cricket Council high performance manager Richard Done, a former NSW fast bowler now based in Dubai, met the three-man coaching selection panel in Pakistan last Sunday. Lawson, though, was impressed with what he saw of Shoaib.
“I had a good chat to him and saw him bowl a bit in a practice game,” Lawson said. “He looks pretty good. He bowled four or five overs and bowled sharply. He looks fit and by all accounts has been training hard.”
Lawson believes that Shoaib’s future will be determined by how well his body copes with recent operations.
“It depends how his knees go. He’s had some knee surgery,” Lawson said.
“Pakistan, like everyone else in international cricket, has a pretty hectic schedule coming up. A lot will depend on how players are managed. I’m sure they would like him to be fit three-quarters of the time.”
Lawson played down any personal concerns about coaching Pakistan.
“I was pretty impressed with their organisation and I think it’s blown out of proportion a little bit about safety issues in Pakistan,” he said.
SOURCE: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21945829-5001505,00.html