Former coach hits out at Bob Woolmer

[Beny]

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/C...14DEC2004.html

Miandad, who was sacked from the coaching position before Woolmer took over, pinpointed what he says are some basic flaws in the set-up. "When you are constantly experimenting with the team, when you are not sure about your playing XI and batting positions, when the coach is unaware of the particular cricket culture and psychology of Pakistan cricket, what do you expect?" Miandad told The News

Cat fight!

[Rachael]

I'm glad that guy is no longer running things: in one brief interview he seems to me to embody everything that's been wrong with cricket in Pakistan for the last few years.

Firstly, he's clearly obsessed with instant impact. He wants results and he wants them now.. even if working on getting results NOW isn't compatible with sorting out the medium and long term future of the team.

Secondly, he's hugely patronising.. ina way that would get charges of racism if suggested by Woolmer:

Originally Posted by Miandad

"Our players need to be told and coached things in a simplified manner. If you drop a batsman to even give him a bit of rest to recover from a bad patch he loses his confidence and forgets everything he has learnt while in the team. That is why Yasir Hameed is now struggling to score runs."

Isn't what he's saying here that there's some sort of inherited defectiveness in the make up of all Pakistanis that means they can't cope with being coached the way the rest of the world's players are coached and and some sort of universal psychological inadequacy that means that no player from Pakistan can cope with being "rested" without some sort of mental meltdown?

Love him or hate him, at least Woolmer will credit his players with being competent, capable and intelligent sportsmen who can make informed decisions and deal with the real players of the international game rather than treating them like mildly delinquent prepubescent schoolkids.

Grrrr. Woolmer is showing his youngsters what it takes to be a top level cricketer and inviting them to step up to the plate. That HAS to be a good thing. If it means there's a lull of a year or two until he finds a full squad of players ready to do what needs doing then so be it: it's not like there are short cuts to success at this level.

[Shaka]

Miandad is a notorious bitcher. No one takes him seriously in Pakistan any more.

Well he does, but that hardly counts.

[Rachael]

LOL - that's good to hear.

If only cricket in Pakistan were run by you and Maranello the prospects would be so much brighter :-)

[Shaka]

I haven't heard a supportive comment on any of the Pakistani message boards for Miandad. His habit of taking all the credit when Pakistan does well and dumping all the blame on the players when they lose grinds with everyone connected. His attitude contrasts badly with another former captain Imran Khan, who might not agree with everything Woolmer does - for example I doubt he'd think much of Woolmer's over-defensive bowling line ups - but at least he's been honest enough to say that Woolmer is very popular with the players. Very difficult to build team spirit with a manager who publicly criticises his players. For instance, Shoaib and Inzi were barely on speaking terms at the end of Miandad's stint as coach, yet now Shoaib is describing Inzi as a great leader!

[Realcharm]

Woolmer hits back at Miandad

PAKISTAN coach Bob Woolmer has hit back at his predecessor, Javed Miandad, saying he had no idea how the current team worked.

Woolmer took time out from preparing his players for the first Test against Australia, which starts at the WACA Ground tomorrow, to defend himself from Miandad.

The former coach said his successor had not settled on a team and was unaware of Pakistan's cricket culture.

"When you are constantly experimenting with the team, when you are not sure about your playing XI and batting positions, when the coach is unaware of the particular cricket culture and psychology of Pakistan cricket, what do you expect?" Miandad told The News.

"He has been in the saddle for six months now and we are still as inconsistent and erratic.

"When I left, the team was among the top three in Tests and one-day internationals, although when I took over after the 2003 World Cup we blooded several new players.

"Since I left has there been any improvement in the rankings or our performances?"

Woolmer, the former England Test player and coach of South Africa, took over in June, when Miandad was sacked after his side lost a home series 2-1 to arch-rival India.

Woolmer was disappointed by Miandad's remarks, but said the former Pakistan great's comments also reflected poorly on himself.

"(They are) harsh words from someone who had the team before I took over. It's like...criticising yourself," Woolmer said.

"He's not working with me, he's not in the dressing room, he doesn't understand what I'm doing or what I'm trying to do, so he's really saying things from outside.

"It's very disappointing that a senior, very respected cricketer (and) past coach of the Pakistan cricket team comes out and criticises the team, the coach and everyone involved, and that's basically what he's doing.

"I find that rather disappointing coming from someone of his calibre."

Woolmer, 56, has coached Pakistan in two Tests, for a win and a loss against Sri Lanka.

He also hit back at the Pakistan media for its criticism of him, the team and the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"Quite frankly, if Pakistan were to get together and unite the forces and harness all the forces they had, it would be a much better country for it," he said.

Miandad, arguably his country's best ever batsmen, said he held little hope of Pakistan surprising Australia.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Realcharm

Miandad told The News [...] "He has been in the saddle for six months now and we are still as inconsistent and erratic.

Woolmer, 56, has coached Pakistan in two Tests, for a win and a loss against Sri Lanka.

LOL - two games, one won, and against a formidable side that stretched the Aussies... and the knives are out. Mybe he should hold jusdgement until the Test side have actually played a series they might reasonably be expected to win (i.e. not Australia, SA, India, Sri Lanka or NZ) and THEN speak up.

[Oliver]

One does sort of wonder why the Pakistan Board chose Bob Woolmer.

In the back of my mind is an unpleasant and cynical thought, remembering how easily his South African captain managed to pull the wool over his eyes...

Ah yes Bob Woolmer. Good choice.

[Zainub]

I'm really so sick and tired of Miandad's attitude, he's been behaving like green eyed monster ever since he's been sacked. Woolmer has the potential to give Pakistan what Miandad never managed to give the team in his 3 terms as coach: a profesional attitude of the highest order. At least there is no more politics going around in the team, and its selection. We have to be patient for results, and I'm willing to be, after all we have just played a couple of test under him so far, who knows how it might turn out for us in the future.

Miandad is just p***ing off, I have full faith in Woolmer, sooner or later, he's going to answer all his critics.

[Shaka]

I gave my views on this already in the other thread on this topic:

http://www.world-a-team.com/showthread.php?t=1830

Like I said there, Miandad might have been a great player but his negative remarks don't go down well with most Pakistanis.