Lawson may face PCB wrath for giving interview

Coach Geoff Lawson may face a few hard questions from the Pakistan Cricket Board top bosses after talking on some contentious issues in an interview to a local radio in Sydney.

Lawson, presently on vacation in Sydney and due to return on May 30 to resume his coaching assignment with the Pakistan team, admitted in the interview that there were differences between him and chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed.

According to sources, neither PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf nor governing body members of the board are going to be pleased with these comments of Lawson.

Lawson said he was concerned with the system of ad-hocism in selection matters in Pakistan cricket and also that some senior players were not fulfilling their responsibility completely.

"I don`t want to take names publicly, but yes I tell these players to their face that I don`t care about big names and I want performances and for this I will even give more chances to young players," Lawson was reported as saying in the interview.

Lawson also said that the ad-hocism prevailing in selection matters was a big problem and it was true that on many issues he had differences with the selectors.

Sources said Salahuddin, after the home series against Bangladesh in April, had sent a written complaint to the board over the attitude and behavior of Lawson on several occasions.

Lawson also claimed in the interview that he had turned down a coaching offer from the lucrative Indian Premier League because of his contract with the Pakistan board.

Interestingly, Lawson left on vacations soon after the Pakistan and Bangladesh series ended on April 20 while the IPL started on April 18.

Lawson, a former Test pacer, made it clear he turned down the lucrative IPL coaching offer because he wanted to fulfil his commitments with the Pakistan board until August, 2009.

"I have a two-year contract with them and while this year the Champions Trophy is the most important event for us, my long term aim is the 2011 World Cup. After my two year contract expires, I will sit down with the board and review how the team has progressed and where we stand but I took this offer with the next World Cup in mind," he said.

The Pakistan board has a strict code of conduct for its players, team officials and selectors on making statements and giving interviews on contentious issues.