KARACHI, Oct 22: Former Pakistan captains Imran Khan and Javed Miandad defended under-fire national cricket coach Geoff Lawson on Wednesday, saying the Australian was not the only one responsible for the team’s poor performances.

New Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt described Lawson as “useless” on Monday and said his contract would not be renewed when it runs out in July-August.

“How can you blame the coach for Pakistan cricket’s ills when your domestic structure is stagnant,” Imran said.

Lawson, a former Australian Test paceman, was appointed coach in July 2007 after the death of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup. He has not commented on Ijaz’s remarks.

Miandad said Lawson was not the only one who should be blamed for the inconsistent performances of team.

“It is not just an issue of coaching. Lawson should not be blamed solely. The players should also take responsibility and I think they should be held accountable as well,” said Miandad, who had three spells as national coach.

Imran said Pakistan needed to improve its domestic cricket structure.

“Don’t expect miracles from the coach. If a coach could produce results without a proper domestic system then Bangladesh had the best coach [Dav Whatmore] and they should have been world champions,” Imran said.

Imran and Miandad are regarded as Pakistan’s greatest cricketers and spearheaded the team that won the 1992 World Cup.

Miandad pointed to a lack of Test cricket as one cause of Pakistan’s unsatisfactory performances. Foreign teams have been anxious about travelling to the country because of security concerns.

“I think the former board management is also responsible for this as they were least interested and did not care at all for this,” he said.—Reuters