Outgoing UAE cricket coach Aaqib Javed has signed on with the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars as their director of cricket.
And though he has not made an application to succeed Waqar Younis as Pakistan coach, elements within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have not eliminated him from their thinking.
Aaqib confirmed last month that he will leave his role with the UAE at the end of May after four successful years in charge. He was initially considered a leading candidate to replace Waqar, who left the position after a poor World Twenty20 campaign. But he withdrew his interest after the PCB advertised the vacancy; Aaqib believed he had been offered the post. Additionally, he felt that Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja, roped in by the PCB to help with the search, were predisposed to suggesting foreign names.
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The PCB persisted in attempting to convince Aaqib to at least apply. They did not succeed, however, and Aaqib did not make a formal application by the deadline of April 25, making his disinterest in applying clear (if not entirely in the role).
The committee formed to find a coach has forwarded four to the board’s Executive Committee, who will then also consult with the Board of Governors before a final decision is taken.
All the names are from outside Pakistan: Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa and Australia coach, the Australian Stuart Law, the well-traveled former Afghanistan coach Andy Moles and the Australian Dean Jones, who was coach of the Islamabad United side that won the first PSL. The board is not restricted to picking from this pool of four, however.
One name that had been linked but will definitely not be in now is Peter Moores, who coached England for three years over two spells. The PCB had sounded out Moores, inviting him to make an application, but he ultimately declined to.
“I was hugely flattered to be approached,” Moores, currently a consultant with Nottinghamshire, told ESPNcricinfo. “And I was very tempted by such a prestigious role with an exciting team.
“But having thought about it deeply, I don’t think it is the right time for me or my family. I have committed myself to a consultancy role with Nottinghamshire and I am enjoying spending time with my kids as they grow up.”
After the Pakistan’s poor campaigns both in the Asia Cup and the World T20, at the end of a long, sharp decline in limited overs cricket, the PCB have embarked on rebuilding the side, appointing former cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq as the new chief selector.
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