Gillespie’s role as Pakistan Test coach reduced to ‘matchday strategist’

• PCB cut duties after first Test loss against England
• ‘I was not involved in decision-making, I was just there’

Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s red-ball coach, has described his role as “matchday strategist”, acknowledging his reduced remit since a reorganisation one game into the series against England stripped him of his influence over team selection.

Defeat by an innings and 47 runs prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to change their approach to the Test side. They abandoned a brief dalliance with focusing on and creating conditions that reward seam bowling – even though that seemed to be a key factor behind the appointment of Gillespie less than six months ago – and transformed the way they go about selection, dropping their two best fast bowlers and filling the team with spinners. They then decided to play the second Test on a used pitch as dry and worn as possible to help them succeed. They won that game by 152 runs.

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Source: Cricket - The Guardian