KARACHI, Oct 4: Pakistan’s national cricket coach Bob Woolmer is one of the highest-paid salaried persons of the country, but in his first year the team has not shown much improvement in ICC Test and ODI rankings.

Woolmer, who took over as national team coach after Javed Miandad was forced to quit in June last year, is costing Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) more than Rs1.5 million a month. This probably makes him one of the top salaried individuals in Pakistan.

The cash-rich PCB, for reasons better known, are also paying all the taxes of Woolmer, an information not revealed to the Senate Standing Committee on Sports and Culture.

The former South African coach under whose charge the Republic failed to win anything of note in five years completed one year in June this year with almost little or no improvement in Pakistan’s official rankings released by the game’s ruling body ICC in virtually an eight-country league with due respects to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. In fact Pakistan has slipped in Tests ratings.

According to the latest ICC rankings Pakistan are a poor seventh in Tests and fourth in ODIs. When Woolmer took over Pakistan were sixth in ODIs and fifth in Test rankings.

Incidently, under Woolmer Pakistan has yet to win a tournament or a Test series.

Besides the fabulous paypacket the high-profile coach also gets favours by the PCB who allows him special leave to conduct coaching classes for ICC, banks and make special appearances on TV chat shows.

Woolmer currently has gone abroad on a coaching assignment having been given special permission by the PCB.

ICC Test Championship

Current rankings:

Rank Team Rating

1. Australia 127

2. England 119

3. India 112

4. South Africa 100

5. New Zealand 100

6. Sri Lanka 99

7. Pakistan 95

8. West Indies 74

9. Zimbabwe 27

10. Bangladesh 5

Rankings in June 2004:

1. Australia 127

2. South Africa 112

3. England 107

4. India 102

5. Pakistan 99

6. New Zealand 96

7. Sri Lanka 94

8. West Indies 79

9. Zimbabwe 54

10. Bangladesh 1

ICC ODI Championship

Current rankings:

1. Australia 136

2. Sri Lanka 123

3. New Zealand 116

4. Pakistan 116

5. South Africa 111

6. England 109

7. India 97

8. West Indies 90

9. Zimbabwe 44

10. Bangladesh 14

Rankings in June 2004:

1. Australia 136

2. South Africa 113

3. Sri Lanka 110

4. New Zealand 110

5. India 107

6. Pakistan 106

7. West Indies 103

8. England 102

9. Zimbabwe 62

10. Kenya 28

11. Bangladesh 2 Note: Kenya, which was previously ranked in the official ODI table, has not played sufficient matches to record a rating during current period.