PCB mulls over dual role of head coach and chief selector

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering introducing a new model under which the head coach of the national team will also serve as the chief selector, much along the model currently being employed by New Zealand Cricket.

The PCB, in a significant step towards the new model, appointed former captain Misbah-ul-Haq as the camp-commandant on Thursday for the pre-season training camp being held at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore from August 22 to September 7.

Misbah, with the support of the NCA coaching staff, will craft the training programme and overlook the pre-season camp until the recruitment process has concluded. Fourteen centrally contracted and six additional men cricketers have been invited to attend the camp.

The 2-in-1 role would not only give the head coach absolute authority over selection, but it would also help to make the person accountable for the team’s performances.

PCB Managing Director Wasim Khan, while recently speaking to journalists in Lahore, had said the PCB was considering a number of models to choose from. One of them involved appointing a chief selector and asking the head coaches of the provincial teams in the domestic season to also serve as selectors, while another involved appointing a dual position of head coach and chief selector. The third option would be to continue with the present system.

The second model is in use by New Zealand Cricket and has been touted to be highly successful.