Karachi: Being Pakistan’s coach can be a taxing job. One does not just have to deal with controversies within the team, handling a ballistic media can be demanding too. Geoff Lawson got a first hand experience of just that as journalists walked out of a press conference after he laid down some ground rules.
It was a normal post match press conference as the Pakistan coach came to answer the media after Pakistan’s second loss in the Asia Cup. But before starting the press conference, Lawson wanted to set the rules.
“A couple of rules before we start. Don’t make statements, ask questions. If someone asks the question twice, I won’t answer it. And make your question sensible, otherwise I won’t answer. Okay?” he said.
Now that has never worked and Pakistan media didn’t take it lying down. Lawson staged a walk-out before realising the situation could boomerang into a big controversy, and came back again. But by that time it was too late, and the offended Pakistan media were staged their own walk-out.
“If we are not asking sensible questions, he has no right to hold a press conference. That’s why we took a stance and boycotted this. Win or defeat is a part and parcel of the game,” sports journalist Shahid Hashmi, who was present at the time of the incident, says.
Re: Pak media stages walkout after Lawson fires salvo
It's Sialkotia's duty as Captain to be attending the press conferences and facing the music. After the loss to Lanka he sent Misbah in his place to the post match presentation as well. Tosser!
It's Sialkotia's duty as Captain to be attending the press conferences and facing the music. After the loss to Lanka he sent Misbah in his place to the post match presentation as well. Tosser!
Re: Pak media stages walkout after Lawson fires salvo
Good lesson taught. They need to understand how to treat others, specially when his language is not their first language. You can't just yell a question and expect an answer without knowing if anyone in the world can get your point.
Re: Pak media stages walkout after Lawson fires salvo
While Lawson's attitude was obviously unacceptable, one should also not forget that desi reporters many times behave less as "professional journalists" and more as "average cricket fans". They often turn "interviews" into "interrogations". So when Lawson said that he will accept only "questions" and not "statements", I think it was his experience with the Desi media telling.
Self-asserting and straight-talking Aussie coaches cannot succeed in a Desi setup. Greg Chappel, who once showed the finger to a Ganguly fan in Kolkata, was a case in point.
While Kiwi John Wright maintained a low-profile and survived.
*Lawson told The Australian last night it might not “read well” to hear him tell a journalist to improve his English but the man was rude and aggressive. *
*“To me it’s a non-issue. I don’t care what they write,” Lawson said. "At least they have got this story right. They usually just make stories up. *
*"It wasn’t what that guy was saying, it was the way he was saying it. He had a distinct attitude and that is why I come across so aggressively. *
*"He gave me a gobfull, yelling something about ‘freedom of the press’ and I said ‘mate it’s just the rules of the press conference’ but I don’t really care. That guy knows I have had problems with him before. *
*“These guys can get very personal. There are good guys who know their stuff and there are guys who write rubbish, who have their own agendas and are mates with selectors and have favourite players and all that.” * Lawson said he had breakfast yesterday with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf and he had the full support of the board.
Re: Pak media stages walkout after Lawson fires salvo
Indian journalists are even worser...most of the time they would not focus on the sport and indugle in trivial pursuits..also they are poorly informed
for eg. ...in press conf for one of the matches - there was indian flag missing from the stadium
journo was asking Dhoni why the flag was missing...what a dumb question to ask in a post match press conference
i can relate one more hilarious incident when Carl Lewis visited India quite a few years back...there was a press conference and it was jam packed with journos...as an answer to a question Carl Lewis said as a joke that he was practising hard for 800m ( which was never his event) but there was hardly a reaction - then CL corrected himself saying it was a joke..
and most stupid habit - they ask any visiting sports celebrity one stupid question 'what are your views on Indian xxx team' now would he/she ever say 'it is utter crap - so crap that I dont even know if it exists'
