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Woolmer hurt by racist criticism
At the receiving end of incessant criticism from former players and officials, Pakistan's coach Bob Woolmer says he is hurt by the abuse.
At the receiving end of incessant criticism from former players and officials, Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer says he is hurt by the abuse thrown at him.
"I only want to say that I've been hurt by the criticism which has been obviously motivated by the fact that I'm a foreigner. There has been criticism with racist overtones and that has not disappointed me but really hurt me," Woolmer was on Wednesday quoted as saying by a local daily.
Despite surprising critics with a 1-1 scoreline against a much stronger Indian side in the three Test series, Woolmer refused to get even with his detractors.
"I think we are slowly getting there but I don't want to gloat over this win," he said.
He insisted that he did not ask for the job and after it was offered to him he took it up for the challenge of working with people from different cultures and moulding them into a cohesive winning unit.
Denying that language barriers were affecting the coach-player interaction, he said critics were unaware of ground realities as cricket was a language in itself that enabled him to communicate with players.
"I've done my best and will continue to give my best in the next three years. No one knows the ground realities of what is happening in the team and yet they criticise us," he said candidly.
Woolmer said change was always gradual and the players were slowly coming around to his recommendations for making them the best team in the world.
"This is a process that will take time. What do you expect me to do? Give corporal punishment to players who are professionals?" he asked.
He also asked that the performance of the team should be assessed relatively.
Stating the example of Bobby Simpson who took five years to turn the Australian team into a crack unit, he asked for critics to be patient and accept the fact that he could make mistakes.
