A difficult and unfortunate situation: Mike Hesson on Pakistan’s major Test squad shake-up for England series

Mike Hesson arrived in Pakistan’s Test set-up so quickly that he had been preparing for the Asian Games in Japan shortly before being called to England. Now, with the series already lost, he is trying to make sense of a sweeping mid-series overhaul.

Pakistan made drastic changes before the third and final Test against England in Birmingham, which begins on September 9. The Pakistan Cricket Board released seven players after the 194-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, a result that gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad were removed from the squad. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul also left their roles. Five uncapped players, Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah, were brought in alongside Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal.

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It was a really difficult situation for everybody, for those coming in, those leaving. I don't think anyone wants these sorts of things to happen in the middle of a series, clearly not. It's been an unfortunate situation, and my focus is very much on where to from here. I'm not going to dig too deep into that at the moment; I'm pretty much focused on what lies ahead, and if we're able to make some good strides this week, then that's going to be a good start.

Hesson and Ashley Noffke, who form part of Pakistan’s white-ball coaching set-up, were brought in as head coach and bowling coach. Hesson said the transition had been difficult for both the players arriving and those leaving, but he wanted to focus on the final match rather than revisit the decisions.

"It was a really difficult situation for everybody, for those coming in, those leaving. I don't think anyone wants these sorts of things to happen in the middle of a series, clearly not. It's been an unfortunate situation, and my focus is very much on where to from here. I'm not going to dig too deep into that at the moment; I'm pretty much focused on what lies ahead, and if we're able to make some good strides this week, then that's going to be a good start," he said.

Hesson added that he did not know the precise reasons for the players’ removals. He nevertheless defended Salman Ali Agha, describing him as one of Pakistan’s best players despite his recent poor run.

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I'm coming in at the moment as interim. Things have obviously happened very quickly. I was actually just in Japan preparing for the Asian Games. I was back in Lahore and then, as I've said, I was brought over here relatively quickly because changes were going to take place. I was asked to be part of that. We pulled together things as quickly as we could.