News

Latif resigns as PCB wicketkeeping coach

Resignation follows a showcause notice from the PCB over Latif's remarks about the spot-fixing scandal on a TV show

Cricinfo staff
14-Sep-2010
Rashid Latif has stepped down from his position as the PCB's wicketkeeping coach  •  AFP

Rashid Latif has stepped down from his position as the PCB's wicketkeeping coach  •  AFP

Rashid Latif has stepped down as the PCB's wicketkeeping coach after being issued a showcause notice by the board for remarks the former captain made about the ongoing spot-fixing scandal on a TV show. He has since decided to take up the post of head coach of Afghanistan, less than a month after quitting as the country's batting coach.
"I have sent my explanation to the board with reference to the notice but I would like to make it clear here that while it is an honour to serve Pakistan cricket in any position I can't remain quiet on a key cricket issue that could determine the future of Pakistan cricket," Latif said in a press release.
"As a former player and captain, people look up to me and expect me to speak honestly and without bias and that I have done without meaning anything personal against anyone," he said.
He argued on the show that if Ijaz Butt, the board chairman, had been a responsible official, he would have suspended the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the Lord's Test, without waiting for the ICC to do it.
Latif has predictably been a leading voice in the wake of cricket's latest brush with fixing. In a widely-read column for Dawn recently, he questioned the motives of Mazhar Majeed, the player agent implicated at the centre of the NOTW sting operation, and Mazher Mahmood, the newspaper's chief investigative reporter, who coordinated the entire operation.
Latif was one of the original whistleblowers in the match-fixing scandals that engulfed the game during the mid-90s. He accused several Pakistan team-mates of working in collusion with bookies and even 'retired' from the side during the 1994-95 tour to South Africa, in protest at what he said was going on. He was to become a key witness through the Qayyum inquiries between 1998-2000 as well, which eventually led to life bans on former captain Salim Malik and fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman, as well as financial penalties on a number of other leading cricketers.
"I have enjoyed working as wicketkeeping coach under the supervision of Ijaz Butt as Chairman of the board," he said, "but as a former captain, I have other responsibilities as well to Pakistan cricket which has given me a lot."
Latif had been working with the Afghanistan national side as batting coach but he stepped down after a month in the post in August, citing irreconcilable differences with officials in the Afghan board.