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Jason Gillespie’s departure from his role as Pakistan Test head coach is inching closer, with him unlikely to board his flight to join the team on their tour of South Africa as things stand. Gillespie’s scheduled flight to South Africa is for 6am Adelaide time on Friday, but he appears to have no intention of boarding it as relations between him and the PCB hits an all-time low.
As ESPNcricinfo first reported, Gillespie was left particularly angry after the PCB decided against renewing high-performance red-ball coach Tim Nielsen’s contract, and had been left considering his options. Gillespie was offended that he wasn’t consulted ahead of the move, or even told before that decision was taken, and is understood to have felt a lack of respect on part of the PCB.
Nielsen told ESPNcricinfo that he was happy to continue, and was fully available for Pakistan’s Test series in South Africa and at home against West Indies next month, but was informed that his services would no longer be required.
This appears to have been the final straw for Gillespie. ESPNcricinfo understands he communicated his intention not to travel to South Africa under present circumstances to the board. Whether the PCB has made contact with him to persuade him to travel is unclear. A source close to Gillespie said the PCB had made no contact with him over the past day. ESPNcricinfo has reached out to the PCB for comment.
Either way, a relationship which has continually fractured over the past few months is at breaking point. Gillespie, alongside Gary Kirsten as white-ball coach in April, was hired by the PCB to great fanfare, with chairman Mohsin Naqvi saying his “stellar track record” preceded him. But since October, the board has cooled on the Australian, initially removing him from the selection panel for the Test side. It left Gillespie believing he was merely a “matchday analyst” and pointing out it wasn’t what he signed up for.
Gillespie is believed to have had negligible input on the selection of the Test squad for the tour of South Africa, and was out of the loop for the decision not to extend Nielsen’s contract.
There was limited communication between Gillespie and the PCB since the end of Pakistan’s white-ball series in Australia last month, when he coached the side on an interim basis after Kirsten had quit in October. The PCB did initially ask Gillespie to keep that position until the Champions Trophy early next year, but without an accompanying financial offer to reflect the increased scope of his role. That was another factor that led to relations between the board and the head coach being strained, and things have only gone further downhill since.
Gillespie’s anger is understood to partly stem from what he felt was a great rapport Nielsen had developed with the players, a point he had made more than once in public. It is believed both Gillespie and Nielsen consider the fact that Nielsen not being based in Pakistan was the reason his contract wasn’t extended. However, as Nielsen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo, he would have been entirely available for Pakistan’s upcoming two series: the tour of South Africa, and the home Tests against West Indies.
While it is understood that the PCB has not yet made a decision on any potential replacement for Nielsen, the current administration has sought to replace overseas coaches it appointed earlier in the year with Pakistan-based ones. Aaqib Javed, who took over the white-ball teams on an interim basis last month, remains the frontrunner to stand in for Gillespie should he ultimately not travel to South Africa for the series, with assistant coach Azhar Mahmood also in the fray.
It remains unclear, though, what terms the PCB and Gillespie will ultimately part ways on should it come to that. If the PCB decides to sack him, they could potentially be on the hook for paying out the vast majority of what remains of his contract, which runs till mid-2026. Should Gillespie resign of his own accord, that payout is significantly lower.
ESPNcricinfo had reported last month on the uncertainty surrounding Gillespie’s future. The PCB put out a statement denying his job was under immediate threat, reaffirming that Gillespie would be Pakistan coach for the two Tests against South Africa, but pointedly declined to commit to stating that he would see out the remainder of his contract.
Pakistan play three T20Is and ODIs each in South Africa, before the first Test begins in Centurion on December 26, and the second in Cape Town from January 3.
