PakPassion.net visit the head coach for the ICC's Global Cricket Academy and ex Pakistan coach, Muddaser Nazar at the GCA in Dubai.

By Amir Husain (17th February, 2012)

It was the 5th day of the 3rd Test between Pakistan and England in Dubai. That was the theory but the reality was that Misbah and men had finished off a hapless England Test squad by the 4th day. The series thus won and England white-washed, I woke up on the 5th day with an empty feeling.

I don’t personally cover so many games for PakPassion as our men in Dubai (kami_kinz and TanweerPP) do but it is strange, and I guess a mark of the passion for this game that one adjusts to the “Test match” cycle – for a few days it becomes a part of your life as if you have been doing this all your life!

It was the same for this match – the routine of getting up early, making it to the ground before the first ball was bowled, finding your place in the media room, watching each and every ball while listening out for any gems of wisdom being thrown around by the media folk! The lunch breaks, tea breaks, the press conferences and the write ups!

Come Day 5 and all this came to a rude stop. That “end of term” type of feeling, closely followed by emptiness surrounded me but fortunately, Dubai is not just a Test venue for Pakistan. It also is a centre for one of ICCs centers of excellence. The Global Cricket Academy (GCA).

Having spoken to Muddaser Nazar in the morning to get his thoughts on the series, I called Muddaser Bhai again – “Would it be Ok for us to come by and have a chat with him in person at the GCA?” – “Sure – will be glad to meet you” came the reply and my day was set!

As we [Kami Kinz and I] arrived at the academy, we ran into someone familiar – this was someone I had seen on the field a lot and had recently played an innings of some stature. It was the England wicket keeper – Matt Prior! We were told that Matt, attired in full England kit, was helping out some family friends! We were just happy to be in the same area watching a professional at work.

Very soon after that Muddaser, who is the Head coach at the GCA, met us at the reception of the impressive facility. He talked to us about the various pitches (apparently one for each major Test center in the world) and other equipment (including Hawkeye, Pro-Batter) that was available for players to use.

The discussion then turned to state of coaching in Pakistan and in specific - The NCA - Muddaser did not mince words.

Without going into any great detail, Mudasser was very unhappy with the NCA and its current direction. He felt that such a good facility was being underused and at times, a lot of equipment was lying idle. He claimed that he had help set up a lot of processes as well as hardware at the NCA but since his departure, things had been left to rot.

Given Muddaser’s previous experience as coach for Pakistani national team, the question he gets asked most is “Will you do it again?” The answer to that, as we experienced personally, was an emphatic NO! His view was that he had done this before and he had to leave that job due to “outside pressures” – he would not take it again.

So with Muddaser ruling himself out of the reckoning for the position of Pakistan coach, we enquired about who, in Muddasers view, was best suited for this job? “Pakistan needs to look no further than Mohsin Khan for coach” was his reply.

He qualified that with a few well made points. Mohsin had the respect of the players and should stay. He had just become part of history by beating the Worlds No 1 Test team 3-0 – it would be madness to disturb a winning combination. But, we protested, Whatmore had coaching credentials – he had formal qualifications – didn’t he? Muddaser had no qualms in suggesting that PCB should force Mohsin to qualify as a coach as well – infact, he insisted that PCB should make it compulsory via clauses in Mohsin’s contract to get those qualifications! That made sense but we did wonder if Mohsin would be open to the idea of going back to school?

Muddaser also pointed out that PCB, in his view, was in a bit of a bother. They had shown serious interest in Whatmore and he had resigned from his position as coach for KKR in the IPL. This put PCB in a position where they really couldn’t back out without causing Whatmore a great deal of embarrassment and potential financial loss. However, the hesitancy in announcing Whatmore as coach was creating a bigger issue for Whatmore as well!

We ended our visit to the GCA with a walk around the facilities and also ran into the England Disabled Cricketers squad who were being given a tour of the area, ahead of their matches with their Pakistan counterparts . A lot of determined faces – each with a disability to overcome but all of them driven for the love of this game! Long Live Cricket !