FOR a man whose 15-month coaching tenure was marred by player defections, suicide bombings and a rampantly political board, Geoff Lawson was in a remarkably sentimental mood as he packed his bags in Lahore and prepared to fly home to Sydney after learning of his sacking on television.
"I am sorry to be leaving these guys," Lawson said just after striking a financial agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday.
"I went into this thing full of hope and enthusiasm. I just needed to get a few more pieces of the puzzle together and I won't get a chance to do that. But I think I am probably much better off than a lot of other people. I get paid out and I get to go home. There are so many other staff who have been sacked or are leaving and I don't think they got paid an awful lot."
The bizarre manner of Lawson's dismissal would suggest his hopes for a less-volatile Pakistan are unfulfilled. He recounted to the ABC at the weekend how he saw his sacking detailed on a TV news bulletin, then tried to contact the new board chairman Ijaz Butt to ask if he had anything to tell him. Butt said, "no, not really", and hung up before a board official appeared sheepishly at his door with a piece of paper and a cheque.
Lawson gave it back, and has since negotiated a better settlement. Job security was never high among the attractions of the Pakistan posting, and became even more tenuous when the opponents of former president Pervez Musharraf formed a new government in March.
Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, appointed the 70-year-old Butt, who played eight Tests for Pakistan and is the brother-in-law of a senior government minister. His opening pronouncement? "We have no utility for Lawson. We will suffer a huge financial loss if we terminate his contract now. Since we cannot afford a heavy loss, we will continue with him."
That undertaking lasted less than a week. "It didn't have anything to do with coaching," Lawson told The Age. "When the government changed everyone knew the (cricket board) chairman would change and when that happens a lot of things change. So it was always a possibility rather than a probability. That is just how things work over here. I am very philosophical about it. There is no other way to be."
Lawson was presented with obstacles almost from the moment of his arrival. An entire team of the country's top players fled to represent the Lahore Badshahs in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. He bonded, one paceman to another, with the tempestuous Shoaib Akhtar only for the fast bowler's lapses in fitness and discipline to result in a protracted legal battle with the board.
Philosophical Lawson farewells Pakistan sorry but unscathed
FOR a man whose 15-month coaching tenure was marred by player defections, suicide bombings and a rampantly political board, Geoff Lawson was in a remarkably sentimental mood as he packed his bags in Lahore and prepared to fly home to Sydney after learning of his sacking on television.
"I am sorry to be leaving these guys," Lawson said just after striking a financial agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday.
"I went into this thing full of hope and enthusiasm. I just needed to get a few more pieces of the puzzle together and I won't get a chance to do that. But I think I am probably much better off than a lot of other people. I get paid out and I get to go home. There are so many other staff who have been sacked or are leaving and I don't think they got paid an awful lot."
The bizarre manner of Lawson's dismissal would suggest his hopes for a less-volatile Pakistan are unfulfilled. He recounted to the ABC at the weekend how he saw his sacking detailed on a TV news bulletin, then tried to contact the new board chairman Ijaz Butt to ask if he had anything to tell him. Butt said, "no, not really", and hung up before a board official appeared sheepishly at his door with a piece of paper and a cheque.
Lawson gave it back, and has since negotiated a better settlement. Job security was never high among the attractions of the Pakistan posting, and became even more tenuous when the opponents of former president Pervez Musharraf formed a new government in March.
Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, appointed the 70-year-old Butt, who played eight Tests for Pakistan and is the brother-in-law of a senior government minister. His opening pronouncement? "We have no utility for Lawson. We will suffer a huge financial loss if we terminate his contract now. Since we cannot afford a heavy loss, we will continue with him."
That undertaking lasted less than a week. "It didn't have anything to do with coaching," Lawson told The Age. "When the government changed everyone knew the (cricket board) chairman would change and when that happens a lot of things change. So it was always a possibility rather than a probability. That is just how things work over here. I am very philosophical about it. There is no other way to be."
Lawson was presented with obstacles almost from the moment of his arrival. An entire team of the country's top players fled to represent the Lahore Badshahs in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. He bonded, one paceman to another, with the tempestuous Shoaib Akhtar only for the fast bowler's lapses in fitness and discipline to result in a protracted legal battle with the board.
