Pak vs Aus: PCB hires former Australian pacer Shaun Tait as bowling coach

Former Australian pacer Shaun Tait has been appointed as the bowling coach for one year ahead of the historic tour of Australia to Pakistan.

In a statement issued today, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that Saqlain Mushtaq will continue as head coach for another 12 months, while Mohammad Yousuf will be batting coach for the Australia series.

The PCB also named the squad for the Test series against Australia, including Haris Rauf and Shan Masood in place of Bilal Asif and Abid Ali.

Other player support personnel include Mansoor Rana (manager), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Drikus Saaiman (trainer/strength and conditioning coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Emmad Ahmed Hameed (media and digital manager), Col (retd) Usman Anwari (security manager), Talha Ejaz (analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).

The board had announced to hire foreign coaches for the national team and an advertisement was also published in newspapers seeking applications from the interested candidates but the process could not be completed in time.

The men’s cricket team is with a permanent coaching staff since September 2021 when Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis stepped down due to differences over team selection for the T20 World Cup 2021.

Saqlain Mushtaq was then appointed as head coach but he too announced to resign last month.

Who is Shaun Tait?

It is pertinent to mention here that Shaun Tait had announced his retirement from all forms of the game in 2017 due to persistent elbow injuries.

Tait had retired from first-class cricket in 2009 and one-day internationals in 2011.

The former fast bowler was instrumental in Australia’s 2007 World Cup triumph in West Indies, where he was the joint-second highest wicket-taker with 23 dismissals in the tournament.

He represented Australia in three tests, 35 ODIs and 21 T20s and made his last international appearance against India in the shortest format at Sydney last year.