ECB: 'Decision on coach soon'

Denzil Pinto 22:00 19/08/2016
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  • In a limbo: Paul Franks (r)

    Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) chief David East has revealed discussions over the next permanent UAE coach will resume in the next board meeting, likely to be next month.

    Former England international Paul Franks, 37, was at the helm for the team’s tour to Scotland after being named by the ECB as interim head coach following Aaqib Javed’s departure in May.

    But his six-week stint ended last Tuesday, having drawn the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match and two successive ODI defeats in the World Cricket League Championship.

    Franks admitted he has not ruled out a possible return as permanent coach and while East was impressed by how the team fared in Scotland, he insists the ECB board will discuss the issue of Javed’s predecessor possibly next month once all board members have returned from their travels.

    “It’s not an easy thing to do to come into the side like that and try to prepare it properly for a short tournament like that,” said East. “But I think from what we all saw, Paul did a very very good job.”

    “That’s going to be a matter for the board to decide who they want to move forward with (on whether Franks could be the next permanent coach. It will be a board decision which will happen in due course.”

    East, who confirmed the ECB received “dozens of applications” to become the next coach in May, added: “There will be another discussion with the board and always said it would be reviewed after the Scotland trip and those discussions will take place as soon as I can get the board together which probably won’t take place for the next few weeks as people are still travelling.

    “We want to be sooner rather than later as we have to ensure that we move forward. It’s not going to be months, we’ll be looking to make an appointment as quickly as we can. A lot of travelling takes and hopefully we can take that call in September and see where we go from there.”

    Among the players in the squad that travelled was Rohan Mustafa and the all-rounder feels Franks is the right man to take the UAE forward, should he be selected.

    “He was with us before and working hard and in my point of view, we were unlucky on that tour,” said the 27-year-old. “He gave us an idea of how to play in English and rainy conditions. I think Paul Franks is a very good coach and he’s always willing to work hard just like Aaqib bhai. He’s very disciplined and said to us that we’ve very good technically and is very serious on improving all areas of the team.”

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