Jason Gillespie explains why he couldn’t take up Pakan white-ball coach role | Cricket News
Ever since Pakan Cricket Board appointed Aaqib Javed as a interim white-ball coach, speculations have been rife about the future of their Test coach Jason Gillespie. And the Australian has cleared the air, stating that the decision to not take over the white-ball team came as a mutual agreement between him and the PCB.
Gillespie, who was earlier appointed as the Test team coach, accompanied the white-ball squad for their recent tour to Australia. He had stepped after Pakan’s white-ball coach Gary Kirsten had resigned from the role. And despite the team winning the ODI series, PCB had named Javed as their new interim coach of the white-ball side till the Champions Trophy.
“I was asked to do the white-ball tour of Australia after Gary Kirsten resigned from the Pakan white-ball game. And I was still in Pakan at that time, the team were flying out to Australia and I was actually flying home with Tim Nielson and we agreed to help out and do the white-ball leg. And then I did say to the Pakan Cricket Board that if you are looking for a coach, I’m happy to have conversation as I’m the Test (team) coach and I’m comfortable in that role and like that. But if you are willing to have a conversation, we can,” Gillespie said on Willow Cricket Podcast.
And elaborating further Gillespie stated that he declined the role as it would require him to spend lot of time away from his family in Adelaide. “There were a couple of conversations to and fro between my management and the PCB. And in the end it didn’t come together. I declined the opportunity and there were few reasons for that. Main reason being the time away from home. I would have literally been away from home from now and up until March which didn’t really suit me or my family. And also just felt that I wasn’t the man to drive that forward in the white ball space for Pakan. So I was just happy to put my energy and focus into the red ball space. There you have it and then Pakan went and appointed someone else (Aaqib Javed) for that role. And it is all good. They would have liked me to do it but we couldn’t come to a satisfactory ground.” Gillespie further added.
In his short stint so far as Pakan’s Test team coach, Gillespie has already witnessed several criticism, especially after the team suffered a series loss to Bangladesh – their first in the hory. However, they bounced back soon to win the series against England. Explaining the reasons for taking up the role, Gillespie said, “I had a run with (Adelaide) Strikers and South Australia which I enjoyed. The opportunity to coach international cricket don’t really come up very often. I saw this opportunity just to do Test cricket — and I love Test cricket and I thought I could really fit into it. It was something that fit with my family as well. And it also suited Kirsten who was in white-ball space,” Gillespie said.
