Pak coach in trouble for calling players irresponsible

According to a Daily Jung report, senior Pakistani cricketers playing in Indian Premier League were not happy and they felt instead of making such allegations Lawson should have spoken to them if he had any complaints.

“If the board does not demand an explanation from Lawson we will do it ourselves. It is unfair for him to judge all players with the same yardstick,” one player was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The report said the feeling among the players was that by making such comments, Lawson was spoiling team spirit and harming the relationship between players and coach.

Another report in the newspaper claimed that some senior players were seriously thinking of launching an association, something that has not been possible despite repeated attempts in the past.

Javed Miandad, Rameez Raja, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul Haq made attempts to form such an association in the ’80s and ’90s. Rameez headed one such body within Pakistan team but that didn’t last long.

The report said the talk about having a players’ association had come up after the cricketers felt the board had failed to protect their interest in important matters — including sponsorship deals, Mohammad Yousuf’s inability to play in the IPL and ban on players who had aligned with rebel Indian Cricket League.