Former Australia pace bowler Jason Gillespie recently revealed the reasons behind his shocking resignation as the red-ball head coach of Pakistan men’s cricket team.
Gillespie was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in April 2024 for a two-year period. However, last week he stepped down from the role unexpectedly ahead of the much-awaited Test series against South Africa.
Numerous reports circulated in the media about the reasons for Gillespie’s sudden exit, but he revealed the actual reasons in a recent interview with Australian media.
“When I went into the job, I want to make that very clear, I knew that Pakistan had been through a cycle of a number of coaches in a short period of time,” said Gillespie.
“I put my case forward and explained how I felt I could help. You want to create an environment where players are relaxed but focused. I felt that the Test side were very much on track doing that.”
However, the PCB’s decision to unceremoniously part ways with Tim Nielsen, the High-Performance Coach, without any prior communication with Gillespie, led to him stepping down from his role.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was, as a head coach, you like to have clear communication with your employer, and I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to not have High-Performance coach Tim Nielsen,” the former pacer explained.
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“He was told that his services were no longer required, and I had absolutely zero communication from anyone about that.
“This situation, along with past incidents, made me question whether I was truly needed. Not informing the head coach about such a major decision compelled me to think this way.”
It’s worth noting that Gillespie’s tenure saw several changes in his responsibilities. Earlier, he was part of the selection committee along with captain Shan Masood.
However, after a disastrous start to his tenure, the PCB removed the head coach and captain from the selection committee after the appointment of Aleem Dar, Aqib Javed and Azhar Ali as selectors.
“What I felt was my opportunity to help Pakistan cricket was diminished by the reduced role, in essence, basically hitting catches, and that was about it on the morning of a game,” Gillespie further stated.
“You want to be able to have clear communication with all stakeholders, with selectors, for instance, knowing what the team is as head coach well before the game, before that, at least the day before the game, so you can help plan and prepare.
“Those sorts of things proved to be quite difficult and made it untenable.”
It’s worth noting that Jason Gillespie started his tenure as Pakistan head coach with the home Test series defeat against Bangladesh. However, in his second assignment, Pakistan bounced back and defeated England 2-1.