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Pakistan selector and ex-captain Misbah resigns after coach sacked / Photo: © AFP
Pakistan selector and ex-captain Misbah resigns after coach sacked
Pakistan cricket selector and ex-captain Misbah-ul-Haq resigned following the shock sacking of red-ball head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed in the wake of successive Test defeats to England, sources told AFP Tuesday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Monday that Ahmed was being replaced by white-ball coach Mike Hesson, from New Zealand, for the last Test starting in Birmingham on September 9.
The board also sent seven players home from the England tour and replaced bowling coach Umar Gul with Australian Ashley Noffke in a move that has drawn criticism in Pakistan.
The shake-up follows Pakistan's embarrassing innings and 103-run defeat at Headingley and a 194-run drubbing at Lord's, giving England an unbeatable 2-0 lead.
Seven players -- Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad -- were sent home, with five of them replaced by uncapped players.
Former Pakistan captain and selection committee member Misbah later resigned in protest at not being consulted over the changes, sources told AFP.
"Misbah sent his resignation to the PCB by email on Monday night and is yet to receive a reply," sources close to Misbah said.
Several former coaches and players were left shocked over the unprecedented shake-up with a match still to play.
"What an absolutely ridiculous situation," ex-Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur told AFP from the United Kingdom.
"It makes me sad because I know what Pakistan could become with proper leadership, planning and structure."
He added it was "very disrespectful" to have sacked Ahmed.
Former selector and Pakistan spinner Tauseef Ahmed called the changes "unprecedented and unjust", adding they had "created a polluted atmosphere in Pakistan cricket.
"You don't treat your senior players like this," Tauseef told AFP.
Former Pakistan captains Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik were also critical of the decision.
"It's not the way to treat your senior players," Afridi told AFP.
"Such major decisions during a series are disturbing."
"The players dropped from the squad are still our national cricketers who have served Pakistan," said Malik, adding: "Accountability starts once a tour is done, not in the middle of it."
P. Hansen--BTZ
