Pakistan delay naming new coach

The Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday it still hopes to appoint a foreign coach ahead of next month's tour of England but an announcement is now unlikely before next week.

"It is premature to say if the coach will accompany the team to England on May 2 or join the squad there, or even if he will be available for the tour opener," PCB director Munawwar Rana said from Lahore.

"The team will be released later on Tuesday but the announcement of the coach will not be made until the next week," he added.

Rana said Pakistan remained committed to signing a foreign coach.

"What I can guarantee is that a foreign coach will be appointed for the team. Who and when are questions that will be answered pretty soon," he added.

Sources within the board have said that English-born, South African-based Richard Pybus is the leading contender.

Pybus, who made his name with South African side Border, previously coached Pakistan in 1999 but was sacked after three months when they were whitewashed 3-0 in a Test series in Australia.

The PCB previously said it had approached Daryl Foster, the former Western Australia and Kent coach, and that talks were "moving in the right direction".

Pakistan begin their 54-day tour on May 4 with a three-day match against British Universities at Nottingham. They play two Tests at Lord's and Old Trafford before taking on England and Australia in a one-day series starting on June 7.

Mail Cricket Editor