The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made up its mind to appoint former Australia batsman Dean Jones as chief coach of the Pakistan cricket team.
"The board has also reached a consensus on appointing former Test opener Mohsin Khan as team manager and former spinner Iqbal Qasim as chief selector," a reliable source in the board said.
The changes are due to be made after the dismal performance of the team in the Asia Cup and World T20, which have led to the resignations of Shahid Afridi as captain and Waqar Younis as coach while the board also dissolved the national selection committee.
The PCB has invited interested candidates to apply for the position by April 25 after which a committee comprising Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja will help the board select the best man.
But the source said that even Akram and Ramiz had already indicated to the board that Jones would be an ideal choice for the coaching position.
"Basically the choice is down to former Australian allrounder, Tom Moody and Jones but Moody is already committed to other assignments," he said.
Jones has in the past applied for the position of Pakistan's coach and said he would love to coach the greenshirts.
He was also chief coach of the Islamabad United team that won the inaugural Pakistan Super League in Dubai in February.
He worked with the Islamabad franchise alongside Akram.
"Wasim has conveyed to the board that Jones could be a good choice having worked with him with the Islamabad team and seen his temperament and skills," the source said.
Pakistan's former Test pacer Aaqib Javed was also a strong candidate but the source said eventually there is a consensus in the board it would be best to try out a foreign coach after having seen the problems and issues that came during the two-year tenure of Younis.
He also said that the two stalwarts Mohsin and Iqbal Qasim had been drawn up for other important positions.
"Mohsin is keen to work as coach and turned down the chief selector's job for this but the board believes he would be ideal as manager while Qasim can be entrusted to do a good job as chief selector as he has already held this position before," the source said.
