Jason Gillespie, who recently quit his job as head coach of the Pakistan team, has opened up about the reasons why he decided to do so. Gillespie slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), saying that they blindsided him when he was removed from the team selection panel.
Red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie stepped down from his post at the Pakistan team, just ahead of the Test series against the South Africa team. Gillespie reportedly resigned from his position after learning that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not meet his requests.
He was also left out of the selection committee despite being named one of the selectors, which irritated him as tensions between him and the board grew.
I was completely and utterly blindsided – Jason Gillespie
Gillespie has now spoken publicly about the cause for his resignation. He stated that he was not informed of any events, including the dismissal of his assistant coach, Tim Nielsen.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back… as a head coach you like to have clear communication with your employer and I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to no longer have a high-performance coach.
My senior assistant coach Tim Nielsen was told his services were no longer required and I had zero communication from anyone about that I just thought after a number of other things that had gone on in the previous few months, that was the moment I thought well I’m not sure they actually want me to do this job,” Gillespie told ABC Sports.
Under Gillespie, Pakistan lost a maiden Test series at home to Bangladesh, but they miraculously earned a comeback win against England in a three-Test series.
Jason Gillespie miffed about his removal from the selection panel
Jason Gillespie also claimed that he had to question selectors about sharing squads, which made him wonder if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) truly wanted him as a coach.
He added: “I was basically hitting catches and that was about it … having to ask the selectors when they’re going to share what the squad is … those sort of things just make you think, are they really interested in having you on board?”
Jason Gillespie determined that PCB made his job difficult, and when his assistant coach was requested not to go to South Africa on the recommendation of someone else, his situation became untenable.
“That just made things a lot more difficult to be able to do my job effectively and then the board decided to not allow Tim to travel to South Africa, I’ve heard that was on the recommendation of someone which in essence made my job untenable,” Gillespie concluded.
Aaqib Javed has been named an interim Pakistan head coach across formats.
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