October 12, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 12, 1429

TORONTO, Oct 11: Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson wants to complete his two-year contract despite appointment of Ijaz Butt as new chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“My contract with the PCB is for two years and I want to fulfil my commitments with them,” Lawson told reporters at King City at the start of the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament.

Lawson, a former Australian Test fast bowler, was appointed Pakistan coach last August before the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa after the death of Bob Woolmer following Pakistan’s first-round exit from the World Cup after their astonishing defeat at the hands of Ireland.

“I am under no pressure from the PCB or any quarter to resign. It’s an honour to serve as Pakistan coach,” he stated.

Lawson further said, on his return to Lahore, he will be meeting Ijaz as according to reports carried by some newspapers recently, the new PCB boss is not happy with the progress of Pakistan team under Lawson.

Responding to a question about the selection of six-man pace attack in a 15-member squad spearheaded by Shoaib Akhtar with Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf and Anwar Ali for the Toronto event, the coach said it was the selectors’ choice while agreeing that it will weaken Pakistan batting a bit.

Lawson thought Canada is a good off-shore venue for cricket, saying staging of these kinds of events will be a good boost for the game here.

After the Canada series, the Pakistan coach said, he would he preparing the team for the one-day series against the West Indies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but December’s home series against India will be very important for him because of the great rivalry between the two traditional opponents.

He said Pakistan badly needs international series at home, adding the PCB requires the backing of foreign teams for resuming cricket in Pakistan.—APP