December 20, 2007	Thursday	Zilhaj 9, 1428

KARACHI, Dec 19: The Pakistan Cricket Board is not contemplating the sacking of coach Geoff Lawson but wants the Australian to lay emphasis on making the team ‘mentally tough’ and more ‘focused’.

This was stated by a senior PCB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Tuesday. “Like captain Shoaib Malik we have full confidence in the abilities of Lawson and there are no plans to change the coach. But after every tour a postmortem is necessary and obviously like everyone else, the performances of the coach have to be reviewed,” the official said.

Lawson came in for criticism from PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf, who held the coach responsible for the Pakistan team’s recent ODI and Test series defeats against arch-rivals India.

However, the board official said it would be foolish to change a coach on the basis of just two series performances. “But yes we expect Lawson to make the players mentally tougher and stronger on the field and more focused. Aspects which we found missing on the Indian tour,” he said.

The official added that Dr Ashraf will have talks with Lawson after he returns from vacations next month to have his feedback on the recent series debacle against South Africa and India.

”We would like (to have) his feedback and see what are the areas for improvement in the team. We also want to know from Lawson his future plans for the team.”

Lawson has refused to comment on the Indian tour but sources close to him say he himself was unhappy over the inconsistency of the players.

The former Aussie pacer has also come in for severe criticism from former Pakistani captains Imran Khan and Javed Miandad who said he has not played any constructive role as yet.

—Agencies