Former Test pacer resigns as UAE coach
LAHORE: Former Pakistan Test pacer Aaqib Javed has stepped down as UAE coach and is considering taking up the role of director with Pakistan Super League franchise, Lahore Qalandars.
Javed, who has also served as Pakistan’s assistant coach, took up a three-year contract with UAE in 2012, replacing Kabir Khan. During his stint, UAE gained ODI and T20I status and qualified for the 2015 World Cup. They also played in the first round of the 2014 World T20, the team’s first appearance at a world-level tournament since the 1996 World Cup.
“I have decided to resign from the UAE job and go back to Pakistan,” Javed told Cricinfo. “I think I have done great with the team and now I don’t see anything left for me to do. They have the ODI status, played cricket at the highest level against big teams, and now it’s just a repetition and I don’t want to do it again. In an Associate country like UAE, you do at a certain level and when you achieve every goal, then you start losing interest and there is no motivation left. So I decided to move on and try something different.”
Javed, who played for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998, has been involved in coaching over the last decade. He started with the Lahore Regional Academy and then moved on to stints as Pakistan’s Under-19 coach and head coach at the National Cricket Academy. He was also involved with the Pakistan national team with stints as bowling coach and assistant coach between 2009 and 2012. Recently, he was seen as a candidate for the role of Pakistan coach, following Waqar Younis’ resignation, but he withdrew. He has said, however, that he will “definitely” consider coaching a Test-playing team if the job is offered to him.
“I am looking ahead to bigger goals now as I have done everything - being at no. 2 in the command, and recently coaching UAE - so why not go beyond that. Something that kept me motivated when I joined UAE was that I knew I had to work hard to gather a broken team and get them to stand on their feet, so that was a new experience and I loved doing that. So now I don’t want to take up the old job and do the same things again. I am thinking beyond that and if I am offered [the role], I will definitely consider being a head coach of a full Test-playing nation.”
Meanwhile, reports have suggested that Aaqib has re-emerged as one of the frontrunners for the vacant position of Pakistan coach, just over a week after he had ruled himself out of the running.
Aaqib was favourite to take over once Waqar Younis resigned after a poor World Twenty20. He said at the time that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had called him and asked whether he would accept the position and he had said yes.
But he withdrew his interest, in some frustration, once the board officially advertised the position. He was further unhappy as he felt that Ramiz Raja and Wasim Akram, two advisors appointed by the PCB to help them in their search, had publicly expressed a preference for a foreign coach.
Now, however, it has emerged that the PCB maintained contact with Aaqib and has convinced him to at least stay in the race as a contender; it is not clear yet whether he will formally apply through the coach selection committee or whether the PCB deals with him directly.
The PCB have been keen on Aaqib from the beginning. He is, as coach, a local product who has worked extensively and successfully in various set-ups within Pakistan cricket: he was head coach of the National Cricket Academy, has been an U-19 World Cup winning coach and has also worked with the national side as an assistant coach.
Despite the interest, it is not a done deal. The vacancy has invited interest from a number of prominent coaching names. Though Aaqib has only one serious local contender in Mohammad Akram, from around the globe the competition is stiffer.
Those thought to be interested or who have already applied for the role, or whom the PCB is especially keen on, include the Australian Stuart Law, the former England coach Peter Moores, as well as the former South Africa and Australia coach Mickey Arthur; the last two, given their international experience will inevitably be strong contenders.
Dean Jones, the former Australian batsman-turned-commentator, who was coach of the Islamabad United side that won the inaugural PSL, is also in the running.
The PCB were keen on reaching out to Paddy Upton, who is involved with three Twenty20 franchises including the PSL’s Lahore Qalanders, but it is believed he is not keen on a full-time appointment with an international side. He could, however, be open to considering a part-time/consulting role.
The board has asked candidates to submit a vision document of sorts, for where they see the team, as well as its coaching and support structures in the short, medium and long-term, as part of their application.
The board’s deadline for the submission of these applications is April 25th, after which, according to the chairman Shaharyar Khan, they hope to finalise and appoint a coach by the first week of May.
