Waqar Younis - Pakistan's new bowling coach?

[workkey]

Hello friends,
just read this news that our cricket board is hiring waqar as the bowling coach....announcement to be made tomorrow...
what do u guys think about it ..
and how much shoaib will co-operate with waqar after a war of words during the australian tour.

[Zainub]

Having no bowling coach is better than having one, if it would be in my powers I'd get seperate coahes for bowling, batting, keeping, fielding and mental fitness. About time people in Pakistan get used to the reality that in modern sport this is not considered to be a lavish extra spending, but instead in investment in a better present and future.

Waqar Younus should find handling Shoaib just as difficult or easy as any one else in the world, although for the rest of the bowlers, he will have a significant advantage to other coaches because of him being Pakistani and being able to converse to players in their mother tongues not to mention the added respect they would give to some one like him.

Having said all that, I have read in my papers today this morning, both English and Urdu, that it is far from confirmed Waqar Younus is going to be appointed our new bowling coach.

Originally Posted by Dawn

Shahrayar said that ex test captains Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus had been invited to give tips to the Pakistani bowlers before the tour. Similarly Saeed Anwer and Mushtaq Mohammad were invited to guide the batsmen. He hinted that a bowling coach could be appointed for the team, but added the board had to consider the point of "conflict of interest" in appointing Wasim or Waqar on this post, since both are now respected cricket commentators. (Follow this link for more)

[Paoli]

Good Move. Sorry Zainub, I still dont get what lavi****y means

[Zainub]

Hey Paoli, for some reason the word I use automatically gets cencosred, I'll check my thesaures and find an alternative word right away.

After five seconds....

I checked the thesaurus and dictionary as well, turns out the word I was trying to use didn't exsist (Lord I have such poor grammar!). Now though, I have used the world lavish, which I'm sure you must know the meaning of.

Earlier I was trying to add the words "ity" to it, but it kept on getting censored.

[Maranello]

This looks to have hit the rocks. There was a news report on cricinfo a few days ago saying Waqar was only interested in this if he had the role longer-term, preferably till the 2007 World Cup. Today, local TV channels are reporting that discussions between Waqar and the PCB have broken down, primarily due to the PCB not being interested in offering a sensible package. Waqar wants a long term contract but the PCB only want to offer him a contract for the Indian tour and thats it. Waqar obviously needs assurance and job security, and the PCB have refused.

There are suggestions that the PCB should approach Wasim, but I think Waqar will be a better mentor and coach than Wasim. Wasim is good to get tips from, and to have the occasional word with, as of course he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, but there is too much in his life (eg silly programmes on ESPN such as "Shaz and Waz") for him to be interested in becoming a full-time coach under Woolmer. In any case, I believe he will see that as a step-down for his. His main value should be in seeking occasional tips etc from; get him to visit the nets/camps when he is around and have a chat with the boys.

Waqar, on the other hand, being more down-to-earth and sincere, will hopefully not see it that way and be really up for this - playing and coaching cricket seems to have a more central place in his life; if he had his way, he'd still be playing. Anyway that's irrelevant, the point is that he wants to do the job on a long-term basis and there can be few better people for that role. In fact, the triumvirate of Woolmer, Waqar and Inzamam will make a solid think-tank for the next three years; three guys whose integrity is beyond reproach (relatively speaking anyway) and who all have the good of Pakistan cricket at heart, and can work selflessly and tirelessly towards that. Shame that PCB are not going the extra mile to get Waqar on board.

[Zainub]

I think Waqar is well withing his rights to ask for a long term contract. And I also think the PCB will be silly to not give him one. I really think we could do away with the mentality some people seem to have in Pakistan that having extra coaching staff is of no use but extra people in the camp and more people to pay for, they argue we're already paying Woolmer this much, and all that, and really make it a lame way of criticsing him. I think that's very ignorant. And it seems to me rather dissapointingly though that the PCB might be reluctant to higher Waqar permenantly for the fear of crticism on those very lines, especially from a few ex test players, who have in recent times made no secrets of their dislike of Woolmer. Whatever the reasons are, I hope they get to a resolution, may be Waqar could somehow get the PCB to agree right now on a relatively short term contract for about untill next year, and by then hopefully Waqar would have had such a good influence on the results and the team that they'd themselves give him a longer contratc for until 2007 or may be even more.

Another point though, I think you might probably have been a little harsh on Wasim, I know that his exploits with ESPN do not go down well with some people, Shaz-Was isn't exactly my preferenc for mid innings entertaintment either, but I presume that show received very high viewer ratings, and probably attracted the masses quite a lot. I think he's in a different profession now, where his job is to entertain people, and sometimes you have to do rather strange things for that, but that does not all the same change your innate nature. I've always seemed to think of Wasim as a pretty good passer of advice, we've all heard (and I've actually seen it too) of the good advice he passed on to Irfan Pathan.

When ESPN showed clippings of the two of them working together early morning before start of play I could sense from his words....

(Wasim going to Irfan like "Aap kiyon ball wide kara rahe the kal jub swing nahein kar rahi thi, mein ne kaha tha na ap ko ke jub ball swing na kare to wide out side off bowling na karein" translation for others: "Why were you bowling wide yesterday when it was not swinging? I told you not to bowl wide out side off when its not swinging")...

....that sounded to me more like a father talking to his son to be honest with you. But that's not point. I don't think it will be justified to question his comitment. Had he been offered the job I'm sure he'd make it his fore most priority. He hasn't ever been formally asked, has he been? There are always rumors around, but he's always denied them saying he's not been approached by any side for coaching job or jobs. There were rumours around of India being after him too, but in that case to (that was sometime back though, around the time of the Aus-Ind series I think) he denied being ever officialy approached by the BCCI.

The very fact that he's blended in so well with the ESPN team probably is a testiment to the fact that when he takes up something he really does comit do it fully. I think he too would have made a fab coach had he been offered the job. I think though, that with Shaoib in the team, Waqar was the better option, as I personally think Waqar is more the man for our Rawalpindi express then Wasim, Wasim exactly hasn't spelled too many nice things about him since his retirement, not that Waqar has either, but Wasim's tone has been rather much stronger. And I would fear things going off the boil between him and Shoaib if they were to work together.