Mike Hesson Explains His Role in The Selection of Pakistan Test Squad

Mike Hesson has made it clear that he had nothing to do with picking Pakistan’s squad for the current England Test tour. The white-ball head coach said he became involved with the Test team only after a number of players had already departed from the training camp.

After losing the opening two matches of the England Test series, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to let seven players leave the squad and called up replacements. Due to this, the management made major changes ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston, which starts on September 9.

Interestingly, the coaching staff has also been reshuffled. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul are no longer part of the coaching setup, with Hesson and Ashley Noffke now given responsibility for the Test side.

Hesson is handling the red-ball team on an interim basis while continuing his work with Pakistan’s white-ball squad. Speaking during a media interaction, he explained that he was not involved when the original Test squad was selected for the England tour. He only joined the red-ball setup later, after the team had already been formed and some players had left the camp.

“I’ve never been involved in red-ball cricket at all, so I’m not part of the selection panel. I’m part of the white-ball selection panel,” said Mike Hesson while talking to the reporters.

“When this side was selected for this tour, I had no involvement at all. When I took over, there were three players who had already left the squad: Rizwan, Imam and Salman Ali Agha,” added Mike Hesson.

With several players leaving the squad, Hesson said his main focus was to put together the right team for the third Test and make sure it could handle the conditions well.

“From there, it was a matter of trying to find a balanced squad for us for the third Test. Obviously, we needed to make changes anyway, and we needed to find a balance that would give us a bowling attack the best chance to compete in these conditions. Certainly, that was the starting point,” said Mike Hesson.

After joining the team, Hesson said he did speak with the players who were still staying at the hotel. But he made it clear that the squad he inherited was not his decision, as he had no role in picking the original group of players for the tour.

“Without doubt. I mean, I think, as I said, there were three players who had left the squad by the time I was involved. So, those who were still in the hotel, I had a chance to talk to them. But, as I said, I hadn’t been involved in picking them in the first place,” said Mike Hesson.