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Woolmer, Shoaib united for Aussie test
Bob Woolmer has said his Pakistan team can beat world champions Australia in Saturday's final and insisted he has no problems handling Shoaib Akhtar.
Bob Woolmer has said his Pakistan team can beat world champions Australia in Saturday's triangular final and insisted he has no problems handling mercurial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
"Why not? Someone's got to do it," Woolmer said when asked about Pakistan's chances during their training session on Thursday at the VRA Ground where the final will take place.
Pakistan had a lively two hour practice which the players genuinely seemed to enjoy whilst also being happy in each other's company.
That was in marked contrast to an incident which took place in July shortly after Woolmer's appointment when Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar exchanged angry words at a training session before the new coach intervened to prevent things getting out of hand.
Woolmer, who succeeded legendary Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad, said he had no problems dealing with the 'Rawalpindi Express'.
"Shoaib and the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) management had a fall-out. I can't worry about that. My job is to get the best team on the field.
"I had to develop a rapport. We had two or three meetings. And eventually it was a case of 'Shoaib if you don't turn up for camp you won't play and you won't be selected and you make the choice'. The rest as they say is history."
The former England cricketer added that his desire to make individuals responsible for their own fitness training was already bearing fruit, citing an incident after Pakistan's 66-run-win against India in last week's tournament opener — the only completed match so far of the rain-marred triangular event.
"After the game against India, eight people went for a run in the park at 9 pm at night.
"No-one asked them to do that. They just got hold of the trainer and said let's go for a run.
"Now that Shoaib Akhtar and people who have the reputation for not doing that sort of thing, a reputation that is completely unfounded."
And Shoaib, even allowing for the understandable tendancy of players to talk up their current national coach, appeared sincerely upbeat about Woolmer's influence.
He even went as far as suggesting that Woolmer could be the key to a Pakistan victory in what was their first One-Day International against Australia since an 82-run defeat in the fiery opening match of last year's World Cup at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
"We can beat Australia. The difference is Bob Woolmer. Our results since he's taken over show that," Shoaib said.
"It's more or less the same group of players but because of him we are playing as a unit with everyone pulling together. He's getting more out of us."
And Woolmer, 56, who until becoming Pakistan coach was the high-performance manager of the International Cricket Council, a job that entailed helping develop the game outside of the elite 10 Test-playing nations, admitted the lure of top-flight coaching had proved hard to resist.
"I suppose the reason I came out of retirement was that while I enjoyed what I was doing at the ICC I felt that maybe my real role in cricket was still in coaching, specifically researching cricket coaching.
"It's sort of hit-and-miss really, cricket coaching at the highest level. Bobby Simpson (the former Australia coach) started in 1985 so it's still in its infancy.
"I am writing this book which is coming out shortly and I've written a chapter on coaching in it.
"And I thought if I am going to say these words I need more experience and that coincided with Pakistan coming to me and saying was I interested. I needed to be there to write about it.
"You can look but never quite know what's happening. People often say to me 'what's happened to the South African team?' Well how do I know? Unless you're actually in it you don't know what's going on."
