Pakistani cricket teams manager wants to call it quits

Long serving manager Yawar Saeed of Pakistan's cricket team wants to step down from his post after the end of the ongoing tour of England.

Long serving manager Yawar Saeed of Pakistan's cricket team wants to step down from his post after the end of the ongoing tour of England.

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The manager, who has served 26 years with the national team, feels that after managing so many teams for so many tours, he is looking to do something new. "When this tour ends I will convey my desire to the board Chairman as I want do something different and spend more time with my family," he said.

But he also added that if Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt requested him to continue, he would not be able to refuse. "If Ijaz Butt wants me to continue I can't say no to him he is an old friend and if he says I must continue in interest of Pakistan cricket, I will listen. But I will definitely try to convince him the time is right for me to step down,"

The manager, who has been blamed by some quarters for encouraging groupism within the team to oust Younus Khan, said he was saddened by such allegations."I have nothing personal against Younus, we got along well. I don't know from where these allegations have come up. People must understand that I have no involvement in selection matters and that if Younus is not included in the team it is not my decision," he said.

"As a player I respect Younus a lot and if the board and selectors feel they want him in the team I would be happy to see him back. To me all players in the team are equal and I am supposed to be fair with them," he added.

Yawar also made it clear that he had taken over as manager again this year because of the circumstances in Pakistan cricket.

"After the Australian tour the board said they wanted to set things right in the team and enforce proper discipline. I was told to take over as manager and I felt it was my duty to play my role in putting the team back on the right track," he said.

Yawar was replaced as manager for the tours to New Zealand and Australia by Abdul Raquib another former first class cricketer last year in November. But after multiple allegations of groupism and indiscipline on the tours and a high level inquiry into the tour by the board of which Yawar was a part, he was brought back to manage the team.