Sport - Cricket

Sacking influenced by politics: Lawson

Karachi: Geoff Lawson believes his sacking as the Pakistan cricket coach had nothing to do with his performance but was influenced by political changes in the country and the change in the PCB set-up.

The former Australian Test pacer will return home on Friday after just over a year as coach of the national team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board cleared his financial dues with a final payment of $ (U.S) 80,000, which included a bonus for guiding the national team into the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year. Lawson had refused to leave until all his payments were cleared and this was done on Monday by the Board.

“My performance was not bad at all. I did my best and the players responded well despite the fact that we didn’t get to play major series in the last few months due to the security concern issues raised by some foreign teams,” he said.

“But in the cricket we did get we didn’t do badly. I think the decision to release me as coach was the result of the changes in the Board,” he added.

Lawson said whatever he had learnt during his stint would come in handy during future assignments. Lawson had special praise for Salman Butt, whom he described as a valuable asset for the team.— PTI

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