Coach Hesson says Pakistan players are more used to the 'chaos' than he is

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Pakistan interim red-ball cricket coach Mike Hesson believes his players are more used to the “chaos” than him after the Pakistan Cricket Board dropped seven players for next week’s dead rubber against England.

“The last couple of days have been challenging for being in a hotel with some players coming, some players going and then the arrival of everyone,” Hesson told reporters on Friday.

“The guys are probably more used to a little bit of chaos than I am,” he said. “There’s no doubt they have been disappointed, incredibly disappointed. We’ve had to park that and go ‘righto, where to from here?’ They’ve been really good over the past couple of days.”

Pakistan made sweeping changes in a knee-jerk reaction to its two brutal defeats at Lord’s and Headingley in the first two tests of the three-match series. The PCB not only summoned back seven players, it also replaced test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed with Hesson and brought in bowling coach Ashley Nofke to take over from Umar Gul.

One of the four selectors Aaqib Javed and chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi have defended the changes midway through the series, which have drawn criticism from the likes of former Pakistan cricketers Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.

Hesson, Pakistan's white-ball head coach, was recently in Japan preparing for the Asian Games and was only due to come to UK for last Wednesday’s team audience with King Charles, but was told that he will be taking over for the third test, starting in Birmingham next Wednesday.

Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, opening batter Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha, who captained the team in the first test, were among the first batch of the seven players who left the team before Hesson had joined the squad in the UK.

Fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and left-arm spinner Ali Usman both played in the first two tests before being released while all-rounder Aamir Jamal and Mohammad Awais were sent home without getting a chance at either Lord’s or at Headingley.

“When I took over, three players had already left the squad, Rizwan, Imam and Salman Ali Agha,” Hesson said. “I don’t think anyone wants these to happen in the middle of a series, clearly not.

“From my perspective, it’s about putting a balanced squad together, not only for this test, so we actually have some variety in our attack. Pakistan is known for the pace, unusual actions, mystery spin — we haven’t really been able to present any of that.”

The selectors have included five uncapped players — spin all-rounder Arafat Minhas, left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Imran Jr., wicketkeeper Saad Baig, all-rounder Mohammad Imran and fast bowler Razaullah.

Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal are the other two being flown to the UK to join the squad and have a combined experience of only 10 test matches.

“From a bowling point of view, we have got to find some variety,” Hesson said. “We need a little bit of an X-Factor in there as well to try and create some opportunities … to support Mohammed Abbas who’s done incredibly well. I know all the players that are here now. Some I’ve worked with a bit, some I’ve said hello to a handful of times and watched them play.”

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