Jason Gillespie has resigned as head coach of the Pakistan Test team, according to the PCB. It was officially confirmed after a few days of continued uncertainty, culminating in Gillespie refusing to board his flight to join the Pakistan Test squad in South Africa. Gillespie’s scheduled flight to South Africa was at 6 a.m. Adelaide time on Friday, but he informed the PCB that he did not intend to board, instead deciding to s ‘leave when relations between the coach and the board of directors were at their lowest. Aaqib Javed to take over as interim Test coach for South Africa series; he is currently interim coach of both white ball teams.
PK Press Club had first reported that Gillespie’s days as Pakistan head coach were over last month and Aaqib would take over in all formats. At the time, the PCB responded by refuting the story, insisting that Gillespie would coach in both Tests against South Africa, while pointedly refusing to commit to stating that he would end the his contract. However, the relationship between the board and the coach only got worse, and Gillespie no longer wanted to take charge of another Test for Pakistan.
As PK Press Club first reported, Gillespie was particularly angry after the PCB decided not to renew the contract of high-performance red-ball coach Tim Nielsen, and had to consider his options. Gillespie was offended that he was not consulted, or even informed, before this decision was made, and it would appear that this left a lack of respect on the part of the PAC. Nielsen told PK Press Club he was happy to continue and was fully available for Pakistan’s Test series in South Africa and at home against the West Indies next month, but was informed his services would not be no longer necessary.
This appears to have been the final straw for Gillespie. PK Press Club understands that he has informed the board of his intention not to travel in the current circumstances. It is unclear whether the CPC contacted him to persuade him to travel; a source close to Gillespie said the PCB had not made any contact with him in the past day.
Either way, a relationship that has been steadily falling apart over the past few months has reached breaking point. Gillespie was hired by the PCB with much fanfare alongside Gary Kirsten in April, with chairman Mohsin Naqvi saying his “excellent track record” preceded him. But since October, the board has cooled towards the Australian, initially removing him from the Test side’s selection panel. This made him believe he was just a “match analyst”, emphasizing that this was not what he had signed up for. It is believed that he had negligible input into the selection of the Test squad for the tour of South Africa and was unaware of the decision not to extend Nielsen’s contract.
There had been limited communication between Gillespie and the board since the end of Pakistan’s white-ball series in Australia, where he coached the team on an interim basis following Kirsten’s departure. The PCB initially asked Gillespie to serve in the role until the Champions Trophy, but without a financial offer to reflect the increased scale of his role. This is another factor that has led to strained relations between the board and the head coach.
Gillespie’s anger reportedly stemmed in part from what he saw as a great relationship Nielsen had developed with the players, a point he had made more than once in public. Both Gillespie and Nielsen are believed to consider the fact that Nielsen is not based in Pakistan as the reason his contract was not extended, although, as Nielsen confirmed, he would have been available for both upcoming tours in their entirety.
While it is understood that the PCB is yet to make a decision on a possible replacement for Nielsen, the current administration has sought to replace the foreign coaches it had appointed earlier in the year with coaches based in Pakistan. Aaqib, who took over the white-ball teams on an interim basis next month, now becomes the all-format coach and is also part of the selection panel.
Gillespie’s resignation potentially saves the PCB from paying the entire remainder of his contract, as they would have had to do if they had decided to fire him. This was thought to be a consideration in Gillespie’s initial reluctance to resign, even though it became clear that the PCB no longer wanted him.
Pakistan will play the first Test at Centurion on December 26, with the second in Cape Town starting on January 3.
This article was updated at 18:32 GMT following Gillespie’s official departure
