KARACHI:

Former Australia cricketer Dav Whatmore arrived in Lahore early yesterday morning to take charge of the Pakistan team, with this month’s Asia Cup his first assignment.

The Australian, who will become the fourth foreign coach to take charge of Pakistan, mentored Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup victory and impressed in his stint with Bangladesh that saw the team reach the second round of the 2007 World Cup.

Whatmore’s last assignment before joining Pakistan was the India Premier League where he coached Kolkata Knight Riders. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to confirm Whatmore’s appointment. But, according to an official, the selectors called on the coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to discuss team selection for the Asia Cup, which will be played from March 11 to 22 in Bangladesh.

Whatmore will supervise the team’s short training camp in Lahore,expected to be held from March 4 to 6 at the Gadaffi Stadium. Meanwhile, Julien Fountain, who also arrived in Lahore yesterday, will take over from Ijaz Ahmed as the fielding coach.

Whatmore has proven track record: Alam

Meanwhile, Intikhab Alam, who headed the coach-hunt committee, remained optimistic of getting good results under Whatmore.

“Whatmore is a highly experienced coach and has strong credentials,” Alam told The Express Tribune. “The coach-hunt committee selected him because he has a proven track record and is very hard working.

“We are optimistic but improvements will not come overnight. The nation should be patient and give the new coach time to settle down and produce the desired results.”

He added that there will not be a bowling coach travelling with the team to Bangladesh with Whatmore keeping an eye on the bowlers as well.

Alam also termed the appointment of Fountain as crucial, calling Pakistan’s fielding the team’s weak link.

“Fountain has vast experience as a fielding coach. He has coached England and West Indies as well. He is a specialised coach and we are expecting significant improvement in this department.”

Alam confirmed that both coaches will get two-year contracts with the official announcement due tomorrow.

Junaid out with injury

Fast-bowler Junaid Khan will miss Pakistan’s Asia Cup campaign due to a knee injury he picked during the T20 series against England. Junaid will be out of action for three weeks.

The selection committee is likely to name Pakistan’s squad for the Asia Cup today, according to an official close to the selection committee.

The committee, headed by Iqbal Qasim, met in Lahore, where they discussed team selection besides taking input from captain Misbahul Haq and coach Whatmore.

Geoff Lawson

“Pakistan can play wonderful cricket. I am sure that they will listen and learn and benefit from Whatmore’s extensive knowledge of
the game.”

Intikhab Alam

“Whatmore has plenty of experience and proven track record. He is very hardworking coach and we expect improvement in team’s progress under him.”

Wasim Akram

“Whatmore will get the best out of the players and bring more discipline in the team. He’s not just experienced and skilled but very good at man-management too.”


http://www.pakstop.com/pmforums/f15/...6/#post3128401

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Wrote him a detailed letter, hopefully PCB chapraasi hands it over to him.

i'm excited to see what Julien Fountain can do about our fielding. i hope the team is receptive to his techniques and really try hard to improve this aspect of our game. every game we play we are almost always giving away 20-30 free runs because of our fielding.

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did you really wrote the letter?

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

About 5 pages long with some diagrams and pictures for better illustration and analysis.

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Shit happens, and then you die!!!

What makes you think the letter will get to him and he'll listen to you? or no name friends like us?

But if it's worth a try send me his address and I'll write one too

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

i think buck fush you should forward the letter to julian fountain twitter and maybe he can pass it on to Dav Whatmore, that might be your best option

CAn you post some of the contents of the letter here? THat way we can see what you're thinking..

you wish

serioulsy you want indians to know our top secret planning before Asia cup?...thorra suspense tou rahko yaar.

Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain have signed two-year contracts with the PCB as Pakistan coach and Pakistan fielding coach respectively. Whatmore and Fountain had arrived in Lahore on March 2 but there had not been an official announcement regarding their appointment. On March 4, Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, and Intikhab Alam, the director of international cricket, formally announced that Whatmore and Fountain had been contracted by the board.

"I wanted the best coaches in the world for my team and I gave the task of finding them to the committee appointed to select a coach," Ashraf said at a press conference in Lahore. "They analysed all the candidates and they have found the best people for our team. I am happy to have Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain as a part of our setup and hope they can ensure Pakistan always puts up fighting performances, whether we lose or win."

Whatmore, who has previously coached Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, has been linked with the Pakistan coaching job since December last year. Waqar Younis had quit the job after the tour of Zimbabwe in September and Pakistan were due to announce a coach after their tour of Bangladesh. However, the interim coach, Mohsin Khan, continued in the role for the England series. Meanwhile, Whatmore met with the PCB in January and has now been officially given the role of head coach. Fountain, who has been fielding coach of Bangladesh and worked with the PCB before, also met the PCB in January and travelled with Whatmore to Lahore on March 2.

Whatmore said his goal was to bring some consistency to the team and do away with the poor performances. "We want to be consistent. We don't want peaks and troughs," Whatmore said. "We want the team to be at a good level for a long period. When we're brilliant there will be peaks, but we want to still perform and win games when we're not brilliant. We want to eliminate the bad performances. But you can't do that by focusing on the result. You have to focus on the process."

The appointments come after Pakistan followed up their whitewash of England in the Test series in the UAE by losing 0-4 in the ODIs and 1-2 in the Twenty20 internationals. Whatmore said the performances had been disappointing but said he was more concerned with the future. "It was disappointing after the fantastic effort in the Tests. Everyone needs consistency and to at least put up a fight in games, even if you lose them. But I'm not looking too much at the past. We want to focus on what's coming up keeping in mind what's happened before."

Whatmore's first assignment is the Asia Cup, a one-day tournament also featuring India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He said Pakistan would need to select different teams for all three formats. Whatmore also made clear that though the eventual goal was to take Pakistan to the top of the rankings in all formats, it would take time.

"At the minute the team is ranked six [Pakistan are fifth in Tests and sixth in ODIs in the ICC rankings], so it will take time to get them to the top. To achieve anything you have to take small steps. We are focussed on those steps now rather than the ultimate goal.

Whatmore and Fountain have visited the National Cricket Academy in Lahore where former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz is working with the national team's bowlers.

Whatmore is set to cover the batting department for Pakistan while Fountain will concentrate on fielding. Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, had been lined up to form the trio but he opted to become coach of UAE. The PCB has said it will advertise to fill the position of bowling coach but will not rush into a decision.

source >> cricinfo


only 2 years??

bowling coach.. i think wasim akram should join the team..

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::::::::::::PASTHUN ROCKS:::::::::
" SIMPLICITY IS THE BEST POLICY"

lets see..

Ye cheez!!!

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"Never stop fighting for What You Believe In!.... and never stop thinking about whether you're actually on the right side."

People think the main reason for wasim Akram to keep avoiding a full-time coaching role are his commentary and media commitments. But even before he got his commentating jobs he was free but always opted to remain far away from the PCB setup and I think it is a no-brainer given the way PCB disrespects its ex-test cricket stars.

As long PCB is run by Pakistani's Wasim Akram will never come to work fulltime for them.

But when Imran Khan becomes PM and the entire PCB system will be shaken up from top to bottom in a single 9.5 rector scale earthquake then only then we can hope wasim akram to join PCb in some capacity.

But for now PCB has selected two best people in the business.