Former Pakistani swing King, Waqar Younis’ run for becoming Australia’s bowling coach is over after he was turned down for the post following an interview by the Aussie Board.
Cricket Australia has been in search of a bowling coach after Craig McDermott left his duties in May due to hectic scheduling, with Waqar openly declaring his desire to coach and work with the Australian camp. “I was interested but it didn’t work out between me and Cricket Australia,” Waqar said.
“It didn’t really work out. They did interview me. I guess what I’m offering and what they’re looking at are two different things. I don’t know, I haven’t really asked them the details but that’s how it stands at the moment. It has just been in the last couple of days.” Waqar reported to have insisted that he is keen to coach in Australia even if it leads to coaching younger players. He later stated that any progress regarding a stint with the Down Under giant is out of question for now, while further adding that he is now looking at other possibilities.
“The whole [Cricket Australia] talk has just finished now so I’ve probably got to start thinking about different things.” said Waqar. The veteran fast bowler will be busy coaching one of the teams in the Sri Lankan Premier League, which starts next month and will then fulfill his obligations as a commentator in the ICC World T20 Cup, scheduled to take place from mid-September.
Interested in replacing McDermott, whose one year term concluded with impressive results where the Aussies remained undefeated in a full series for a full season, the former Pakistani speedster faced stiff competition from Ali De Winter, who now remains in pole position to take the job, having already worked with some of the current Australian pacers. Taking 416 ODI wickets and 373 Test scalps, the veteran was considered a master at reverse swing. After retiring from the game in 2004, the player turned to coaching and worked as the national team mentor till 2010 before resigning from his duties on health and personal ground, and focusing on doing commentating.
