The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced Grant Bradburn as the new head coach of the Pakistan national men’s side. Bradburn will lead the team’s coaching panel for the next two years after serving as head coach during the recently concluded home series against New Zealand on a consultancy basis. The Babar Azam-led side defeated the tourists 4-1 in the five-match One-Day International series, taking them to the top of the ICC Rankings in the format.
Bradburn is familiar with the strengths and challenges of the national side, having previously served as the fielding coach of the national men’s side from 2018 until 2020 before moving to the National Cricket Academy to work on coach development. Before his roles in Pakistan, Bradburn, a former New Zealand cricketer, worked as the head coach of Scotland’s men’s side.
According to PCB Management Committee Chairperson Najam Sethi, Bradburn’s appointment is another step in the endeavor to put together a highly qualified coaching panel so that players can benefit from their experiences and dominate world cricket in all three formats. With an eye on the prestigious ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy, the Pakistan team management has unveiled a playing style called The Pakistan Way with which they will approach the tournament. The style will see the team approach the One-Day Internationals in the build-up and during the mega-event with positive and bold tactics and attacking strategies.
Reflecting on his appointment as head coach of the men’s side and unveiling the strategy, Grant Bradburn said, “It is a great honour for me to work with the highly talented and skilful side like Pakistan as a head coach. We have been working hard on raising our game and are eager to showcase our growing skills.” Team Director Mickey Arthur added, “If a team wins without a culture, without a brand, or without a style, it may work for a short period but will eventually fall. If a team is losing with a culture, a brand, and its own style, then it is moving towards the right direction.”
To achieve success, the team management will emphasize the importance of building a culture where a player’s success is enjoyed by everyone and creating an inclusive environment where anyone can speak up at any time and everyone is treated equally, eventually resulting in achieving collective goals as a nation and team. The appointments for other positions will be announced in due course, and former South African cricketer Andrew Puttick has signed a two-year-long contract as the batting coach of the men’s side. Strength and conditioning coach Drikus Saaiman and physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon will continue to work in their roles.
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