The newly selected coaches for the Pakistani cricket team were formally introduced to the awaiting media at a specially organized press briefing at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore today.

In introductory remarks, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mr. Zaka Ashraf, reiterated his desire to organize the Pakistani team management along modern lines by appointing specialist personnel and he thanked the members of the committee which was tasked with the selection of the Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain.

The 2 coaches made statements to the press and then answered questions from the members of the media present at the ceremony.


Statements by Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain

Whatmore spoke briefly in his remarks where he thanked the board and talked about the kinds of areas which he and Fountain would look to improve.

“We all know that the Pakistani team has produced some terrific players over the years – they have a deep and rich history of wonderful cricketers. We will ensure that whatever we do will be directed against the betterment and increased performance of the team”

“We bring some experience and we will be rolling up our sleeves and putting a little bit of dirt under the finger nails so that we ensure that we do enough work to prepare the team as well as we possibly can, to get the results that we all want”

For his part Pakistan’s newly appointed coach, Julien Fountain, also reiterated his pleasure at the opportunity to work with a world class Pakistani side, stating that “it was an honour and privilege to be here and work in a fantastic cricket environment which has a great cricketing history – hopefully we can bring our skill sets and we can make sure that players move forward and players achieve the status which they rightly deserve - which is at the top of the table (rankings)”


Dav Whatmore on the need for consistency and general improvements in Pakistani cricket

One of the problems plaguing Pakistani cricket performances has been that of inconsistency whereby the team seems to exceed in one form of the game and then hit the rock bottom in another. Whatmore was of the opinion that improvements in the team’s consistency can be achieved by taking small steps “This will take a bit of a time – has to be in small steps - Everyone wants consistency – as the Chairman said – we want the team to put up a fight – if you aren’t going to win the game then ensure that the opposition has to work really hard to beat you and in doing that – that’s when you get consistency”

“As everyone would agree, it was a little disappointing to put up a fantastic effort to beat England (no 1 test ranked team) and then wasn’t so good in one day games – I don’t want to look behind me – we are both looking forward and we need to look forward and focus our energies to what’s coming up while being mindful of what’s happened in the past – We think that the material is there and provided we can get a nice balance work hard - we will be
competitive”

Obviously consistency – if you plot the performance of that team – you don’t want to be going too high and then low – you want them to be performing at a consistent level - so you can have a brilliant performance but when you are not performing brilliantly, you are still winning matches and fighting hard so the graph is a straight line – we want to avoid bad performances – cant do it by focusing on the results – you can only do it by one or 2 processes that enable you to get the results


The upcoming Asia Cup and the tough competition expected from teams such as India and Sri Lanka

With some fantastic performances under their belts from the series in Australia, both India and Sri Lanka are expected to offer a high quality of opposition to Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup, to be held in Bangladesh. Pakistan’s recent disappointing performances in LOI games against England have caused concerns for their ability to challenge their 2 Asian rivals. Dav Whatmore agreed that this would be tough but that Pakistan had to concentrate on their own game “Yes they are tough teams – but Pakistan is pretty good too!

Everyone starts the game at a level playing field. It’s important that we are able to focus on what we are capable of doing – respect the opposition but we focus on what we can do – We can’t make the opposition do anything different – so yes, they are good teams – so are we!”


Issues with weakness in Pakistani Batting as compared to bowling

The frailties of the Pakistani batting lineup were exposed by the recent failures in the Limited over games against England and Whatmore is cognizant of that area of improvement but feels that the right frame of mind is necessary for good batting performances“ The batting in the recent series could have been better – the team understands that but it you look at the personnel in there, then I am sure you will agree that by applying themselves properly, we will have some good times – again I don’t want to look back – I am looking forward to ensure that they are in the best frame of mind and prepared as well as they can be to be able to show you and everyone else that the team can bat and defend a total properly”


Possible Improvements in Fielding which can be expected in the future

Pakistan’s weakness in the area of fielding are well documented and Julien Fountain’s arrival as the fielding coach has raised hopes of improvements in this area. Julien is clearly aware of the challenges that lie ahead “Fielding is massively important in today’s game – Games are won or lost by very small margins so where we will focus with fielding will be on skills – making sure that the guys can execute the skills – hopefully up their skill level - so we will be looking at some more dynamic skills – we will try and tighten things up and make sure they perform properly in each format of the game”


Views on future talent in Pakistan

Pakistan has always prided itself on the availability of new talent and Whatmore is well aware of the potential of such talent but believes in nurturing younger players and introducing them when the time is right “You will all agree that the potential is there – we have had a small opportunity to see what’s available in the bowling department and it’s looking pretty healthy – think we have managed them well with Sarfraz Nawaz looking after the faster bowlers so the potential for younger ones is good – so with right selection at the right time – used in the right way – we can take good steps in forming a pretty decent group for the future”


The need for different teams or players for different formats

An area of great debate in recent times due to Pakistan’s dismal showing in the Limited over games in the UAE has been that of organizing different teams for different formats of the game. Whatmore is cognizant of the need for such reorganization. “These are 3 different types of games – there is evidence that the team changes depending on the type of game you play and there are players who are more happier and more attuned to different types of a game – we are trying to fit a square peg in a square hole – there will be a necessity to modify the team given the difference in formats - there will be changes and there have been changes”


The Letter from Lawson!

It didn’t come by express post – came via every one else – my wife read it for me – and we thank Geoff for that