Boycott's reticence creates confusion

Confusion appears to surround the appointment of Geoffrey Boycott as coach to Pakistan's youngsters. The Pakistan Cricket Board are sure that Boycott will start work shortly, but he has confessed to CricInfo that he knows little about it.

"I love the subcontinent, and the people, but I have very little free time and I am a bit sceptical about all this," he said. "I've heard my name bandied around for three or four years but I've not had a proper approach.

"I did talk to someone after the Pakistan Test team played Zimbabwe, but it may not come to anything."

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia, is expecting Boycott to arrive in early February. "We are in the final stages of signing the deal and Boycott is arriving in Pakistan on February 4th," he said.

Brigadier Munawar Rana, the Director of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told CricInfo today: "The comments (about Boycott claiming no knowledge) beat me. Everything is agreed. We are in contact with him, and although I don't know his exact time of arrival, he will start work on the 5th February, and he will stay for two weeks.

"It was not a big issue deciding to employ a foreign coach; most other countries have been doing so for years," Rana added. "We are happy to have secured the services of a great batsman with a huge amount of knowledge. We will have some sort of training camp where he can pass on his expertise."

Intriguingly, in his latest book "Geoffrey Boycott on Cricket," the former Yorkshire and England opener appears to decry short-term coaching assignments. "Nothing will be gained by a handful of clinics..." he writes, "Part-time coaching in the build up to a Test Match is likely to be counter-productive. The work has to be done, preferably over a long period of time."

In what might be seen as a pre-emptive defence of his reputed £30,000 fee for two weeks' work, he explains in the book that he can charge more than £2,000 a day for a speaking engagement. And he reiterates that although money is a factor in his decisions, "my conscience would not let me undertake a half-baked patching-up exercise."

"That's right," Boycott told CricInfo when reminded about these comments, "All these things would have to be sorted out. Two afternoons here and there would be useless."

Boycott is reportedly to spend 15 days with Pakistan's youth players, as well as passing on hints to the Test team before they depart for New Zealand.

Rumours of the appointment have not been well-received by some of Pakistan's ex-players and coaches.

"No player in the world is worth £2,000 a day, to me this is a waste of money," said Mushtaq Mohammad, Pakistan's coach in the 1999 World Cup.

And former captain and coach Intikhab Alam commented: "Who will follow up once Boycott leaves? If Boycott is that valuable why has England never appointed him their team's coach?"

"It is their view, but not ours," commented Rana.