Former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie has revealed his decision to step down as Pakistan’s Red Ball head coach in an interview with Australian media, citing concerns about his role.
Gillespie revealed that high performance coach Tim Nelson’s lack of clarity about the position contributed to his resignation.
“I was completely unaware of the decision not to retain Tim Nelson,” Gillespie said. Not informing the head coach about such a big decision made me think that way.”
He expressed concern over the diminishing purpose of his role in the country’s cricket setup.
He explained that the purpose of my coaching in Pakistan was ending.
“My role was reduced to giving the players catching practice on the morning of the match,” he added.
The former coach emphasized the importance of communication in his role as head coach.
He said that it is important for the head coach to maintain full communication with the selectors and everyone.
“For planning purposes, I need to be informed about the squad at least a day in advance. Without these basic requirements, it becomes very difficult to function.”
The 49-year-old also highlighted how the decision-making process became even more difficult after Nelson’s situation.
He revealed that I found out about the new selection committee through a text message in the group chat after the first match against England. No one spoke to me about the selection committee issue.
One of the new selection committee’s controversial decisions was to drop star batsman Babar Azam from the second match of the recent Test series against England – a move Gillespie felt lacked consistency.
He said that the decision to drop Babar Azam has been taken by the new selection committee.
It is noteworthy that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had refused to renew the contract of Red Ball assistant coach Nelson.
Nelson, who was appointed as the “High Performance Red Ball Coach” in August 2024, saw his contract expire after Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia.
Despite expressing his commitment to the upcoming longer format series against South Africa and the West Indies, Nelson revealed that the PCB has informed him that his services are no longer required.
Jason Gillespie was appointed as the Red Ball head coach of the Pakistan team on 28 April 2024.
His first assignment was the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh in which the Pakistani team suffered a 2-0 whitewash defeat.
His second assignment was the three-match home Test series against England, which Pakistan won 2–1.
Following his resignation, Aqib Javed was appointed interim head coach ahead of the two-match Test series against South Africa at Centurion and Cape Town from 20 December 2024 to 7 January 2025.