The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters can not remain silent for long. Just when one thinks the board is sailing toward stability, an even bigger bombshell drops. The latest of these concerns is the PCB hitting an all-time low relationship with the red-ball head coach, Jason Gillespie.
Gillespie, who was hired to coach Pakistan’s red-ball side in April this year on a two-year contract, will reportedly not join Shan Masood’s men for the two-match red-ball tour in South Africa later this month.
This development comes following the PCB’s refusal to renew Gillespie’s assistant coach, Time Nielsen’s contract. Nielsen was appointed as the high-performance coach for Pakistan’s Test side in August this year and his contract was due to be renewed after the end of Pakistan’s white-ball tour versus Australia last month. While, as mentioned by Tim himself, he was ready to join the team for the Proteas tour, the PCB did not extend his contract.
This is one of many reasons that made Gillespie decide against flying to South Africa. Apparently, Nielsen was dismissed without consulting Gillespie which came as the final straw for him. Earlier, the Australian coach was sidelined from the selection role in the middle of the Test series against England. By Gillespie’s own admission, neither he nor Pakistan’s red-ball captain, Masood, was consulted apropos to the Playing XI for the second and Third Test matches with England. This left him feeling only like a match-day strategist.
In addition to that, after Gary Kirsten’s resignation in October, Jason Gillespie was asked to fill in for him on an interim basis on the Australian tour, a role he was asked to continue after the tour as well but without any extra compensation for increased workload. Naturally, he refused, leaving the role to be assigned to Aaqib Javed.
Since the conclusion of the Australian white-ball tour, there has been no communication between the PCB and Jason Gillespie. This means that the board did not take his input for the selection of the South Africa-bound squad.
ESPN Cricinfo reported last month that the PCB was mulling laying Gillespie off, a claim which the board denied, saying that Gillespie will continue as the coach until the end of the South Africa tour. However, the PCB has notably refrained from mentioning if his role would extend beyond the South Africa tour.
As per many reports, the PCB is looking to replace all the foreign coaches with local ones, and Aaqib Javed is very likely to take Jason Gillespie’s role as the head coach of the red-ball side as well. But it remains to be seen how the Pakistan-Gillespie saga will end when it does. In case, the Australian resigns on his own, he will not be entitled to the severance pay. However, if the board dismissed him, it would be required to pay him for the duration of his contract.
A source said that Jason has not been contacted by the PCB yet to persuade him to join the team for the tour. But with Pakistan due to begin their red-ball games in less than a fortnight, the board can not afford to delay the solution any longer.
