The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday denied all accusations made by former fielding coach Steve Rixon which included the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of lacking professionalism, being disorganised and late with payments.
Rixon had made these accusations after quitting his post as the country’s fielding coach.
In an official press release, the PCB has expressed surprise and disappointment at the ex-coach’s statements. “Mr Steve Rixon was a good coach who worked hard with the players and certainly helped improve team’s fielding in the last two years. It comes as a surprise to us that he made unfounded allegations against PCB,” the board said while adding that the relationship between the PCB and the ex-coach was a pleasant one.
Speaking to a local media outlet, a top official in PCB on condition of anonymity has informed the press that the former fielding coach did not wish to live in Lahore.
“Basically, Steve had issues living in Lahore and the security who always had to travel with him. His main complaints were about having nothing to do in Lahore and that if he went anywhere he had to take a security guard,” said the official while adding that PCB had agreed to all of Rixon’s terms and conditions up to the world cup.
Furthermore, Rixon was also eyeing bonuses for all the bilateral series even though he was aware of the board’s pre-existing policy which could not be changed for an individual.
In an interview with FairFax Media, Rixon had said: “They didn’t pay subsidiary staff on time. Everyone was meant to go to the World Cup, which would be the sensible thing to do but not unless they improved their act. [I told them], ‘you guys will make me angrier and angrier, and I don’t need it.’ I said ‘thanks, but no thanks’.”
However, the official confirmed that all the payments go through a clearance process which usually takes time.
“Payments in PCB overall for the last year have been complicated because of audits and inquiries but nothing was done on purpose,” he said.