Many thanks to Richard pybus for taking out the time to answer the questions we have for himand also to Wazeeri for getting in touch with Richard and finally to PP staff member Muhammad for scripting the interview.

PakPassion.Net: What are you doing these days and are you working with any exciting young talent?

Richard Pybus: I'm currently coaching the Titans in South Africa which means I get to work with the Morkel brothers, De Villiers, Dale Steyn, Paul Harris and Van der Merwe.


PakPassion.Net: If the opportunity presented itself would you like to coach Pakistan again?

Richard Pybus: I wouldn't rule it out, South Africa and the 2003 World Cup were very painful but other than that I loved my tenures with Pakistan. It was great working with the Pakistan players and doing my best to help them. However I'd want an indepth and thorough meeting with the board before I'd agree to take the job on again.


PakPassion.Net: Where do you see Pakistan in the current world standings in terms of test and ODI cricket?

Richard Pybus: Unfortunately Pakistan have fallen away in their one day cricket, there are several factors for this, ICL has had a huge impact, the best players must be available. Secondly there needs to be consistent selection, there has always been a tendency to pick and discard in pakistan selection and this breeds fear and inconsistent performance. I would imagine there is as much talent as there always has been, with this there needs to be a reliance on playing the Pakistani way, I feel there has been too much of a move away from the cultural strengths of international teams. Pakistan must play their own brand of cricket, thats what makes them so exciting.


PakPassion.Net: Why do you think the Pakistani players are so injury prone?

Richard Pybus: It's mainly due to poor general sports conditioning during their childhood and developing years, by this I mean they usually do not undertake a broad enough sports curriculum that teaches you how to move your body and orientate yourself in a space. Players that have grown up in a system where a variety of sports are played tnd to have learnt to move their bodies properly and their joint, muscle and tendon systems are stronger for a lot of different patterns of motion.


PakPassion.Net: From your experience, how would you rate the PCB as a cricketing body and an as employer?

Richard Pybus: The key issue for Pakistan is to get away from having the main cricket body being appointed by the Govt. What this leads to is a revolving door policy of top bureaucrats selected by Politicians and this is hardly an ideal scenario.


PakPassion.Net: What do you think of the PCB's recent handling of the IPL issue, the attack on the Sri Lankan team and the removal of Pakistan as host of the Champions Trophy?

Richard Pybus: These have been very difficult scenarios to deal with, I see it as detrimental to world cricket having everyone bend over backwards to please the BCCI, world cricket needs to retain its autonomy, not be playing second fiddle to Indian cricket. The terror attacks and the change of venue for the Champions trophy are terrible blows for Pakistan cricket, the public need to see their stars playing good cricket at home. What the terrorists hope to achieve is beyond my comprehension.


PakPassion.Net: The Pakistan team that went to the 2003 World Cup was on paper one of the strongest ODI teams that Pakistan has ever fielded. However, the results were some of the worst in the history of Pakistan cricket. in retrospect, what were the main reasons for the debacle? was it infighting? or a lack of motivation amongst the senior players, who had accomplished pretty much everything in the game?

Richard Pybus: The squad should have been settled and together throughout 2002 into 2003. The nucleus of the squad was only established just before this world cup, and it was a case of too little too late. Inconsistent team selections in the lead up to 2003 World cup played a key role in the problems ultimately faced by the squad..


PakPassion.Net: Richard, did you have much say in the final selection of the World Cup 2003 squad ?

Richard Pybus: Myself and Waqar did have some input but as I've said before the squad should have been together much earlier. All the best players should have been playing consistently and the teams focus should have been stronger long before the tournament started.


PakPassion.Net: How can you tell when a great player has passed his sell by date?

Richard Pybus: When the passion and desire goes out of his eyes, you can tell when the fire has almost extinguished, and at this time you must gently move the player on.


PakPassion.Net: Pakistan has at times been the most talented team in the world but they have never achieved the standards which Australia and Windies have reached in the past, why is this and what is the remedy?

Richard Pybus: Talent is never enough, good organisation, forward planning and strong structures give you a good chance to be consistently successful. An autonomous cricket body run by professionals who are accountable is also central to success.


PakPassion.Net: Richard - what were you opinions of Pakistan as a country (from an 'outsiders' perspective)?

Richard Pybus: I found it to be a fascinating country. I love travelling and learning about other cultures. I would have liked to have travelled more across Pakistan but unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity.


PakPassion.Net: Why is the Pakistani team so unpredictable?

Richard Pybus: For all the reasons I have already stated.


PakPassion.Net: Why are Pakistanis so poor at fielding?

Richard Pybus: As i mentioned earlier, kids must learn how to move properly from an early age and this can ususally be achieved by playing lots of different sports. This is not the case with some Pakistan players. Also fielding is one area of the game that any player can improve considerably by just sheer hard work and basically it calls for practice, practice and more practice. Some of the players just don't follow this simple requirement with the level of intensity necessary. 


PakPassion.Net: What are your opinions on Shoaib Akhtar, do you think his attitude is his biggest failing?

Richard Pybus: I first got to know Shoaib in 1997 and can tell you he was a good kid. Unfortunately he was spoilt and given prefential treatment by the board, above the rest of the team and by 2002 it had gone to his head and he had pretty much lost the plot.


PakPassion.Net: Wasim Akram played no test cricket after January 2002, although he carried on playing ODI's till the World Cup in 2003. The official reason given everytime he missed a test series was that it was an injury of some sort, but Wasim said in a TV interview a while back that he was given strong hints by the selectors that he was not required anymore and was pushed out of the test team against his will. Can you shed some light on this?

Richard Pybus: I am not sure about all of this, what I do know is that he never should have given up test cricket as soon as he did. He was still a genius with the ball in 2003, in fact he could have played even longer if he had wanted. 


PakPassion.Net: Have you come across corruption or nepotism in your tenure as Pakistani Coach?

Richard Pybus: I never saw anything explicitly, nothing obvious, but there were and had been the rumours of match fixing. I would like to think, perhaps naively, that if it did ever happen then it had been weeded out well before my time.


PakPassion.Net: Richard, we all know that talent is available in abundance in Pak cricketers. However the mental toughness so necessary to compete at international level is missing. How do we prepare these guys to be mentally very strong like the Aussies and South Africans.

Richard Pybus: Select them and back them, select them to succeed and not to fail, back them until you know definitively one way or another that they are good enough or not. Trust and confidence are the keys, Imran had it, he had the power and the judgement to wield that authority, Wasim had it for a while, but Waqar was never properly backed to be able to lean on the authority that gives a captain that confidence to back his players come what may.


PakPassion.Net: Why can't pakistan find a decent opening pair?

Richard Pybus: Again the key is to identify the type of player you are looking for and to sit down with them while they do their learning. In Pakistan they tend to chop and change so much that they drop a player as soon as he has a dip in form, and by doing so they undermine the whole process of establishing a position. The selection panel and the captain must trust their judgement and then be prepared to back the player through any slump in form.