Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided not to renew the contract of assistant coach Tim Nielsen. He was appointed in August this year and was officially designated as the ‘high-performance red-ball coach’ and his contract expired after Pakistan’s tour of Australia. He was waiting for a possible extension from the PCB but the board decided against it.
While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Nielsen stated he was “making good progress” with the team especially with Pakistan winning the ODI series in Australia after 22 years. He was fully committed to the Test series against South Africa and the West Indies as well but the PCB told him that his services were not required anymore.
It has been reported that Jason Gillespie is irked with the decision as he was neither informed nor consulted before making the decision. He wasn’t even aware of the fact that he wouldn’t have an assistant coach with him on the South Africa tour. According to a report, Gillespie, for the same reason, is not pleased and is considering his options now.
For the unversed, Gillespie’s role as the head coach has been trimmed significantly since what was officially agreed at the time he joined the team. In October, he was removed from the selection panel after Pakistan lost the first Test against England at home. Gillespie himself had stated then that he is now merely a ‘matchday strategist’.
Coming back to Nielsen not getting a contract extension, PCB is yet to decide on a potential replacement for him. The current administration, which keeps changing, has sought to replace overseas coaches with Pakistani ones. In the past, PCB has openly expressed its dissatisfaction with overseas coaches for not spending enough time in Pakistan. This was one of the main reasons white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten quit in October without coaching the men in green in a single ODI.
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As for Gillespie, he seems set to continue at least for the upcoming South Africa tour and is scheduled to travel to the rainbow nation on December 13 with the first Test of the two-match series scheduled on December 26 in Centurion.
