In the 62nd episode of PCB Podcast, Pakistan men’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson is interviewed by former Test cricketer and commentator Bazid Khan, which is available here. Hesson shares insights into his coaching philosophy, discusses what led him to take up the role with Pakistan, explains how his stint with Islamabad United in the HBL PSL helped him get to know the Pakistan players and outlines his vision for the team’s future.
The following is some of the extract from the conversation between Bazid Khan and Mike Hesson:
Bazid Khan: How difficult is it to not having played top level cricket and then be able to coach at the elite level
Mike Hesson: Look, I think players decide if you are valuable or not. They are the ones that decide, can this person help me achieve what I want to achieve. And they ultimately decide if you add value. So, for me, I think a lot of really fine players can share a lot of experiences.
Some are very good coaches. Some probably struggle to understand those that are struggling, because they were so good. For me, coaching is very different than playing. It's about trying to maximise talent. It's not necessarily about telling them about the greater things that I have played during my time.
I have had that for many years and when I coached New Zealand, I hadn't, you know, without international experience and like I said, players decide. They work out very quickly if you can add value or not. You know, I have been lucky enough to coach some of the best players in the world and build those relationships with them.
And I think in many ways, you know, they can share things with you more than, you know, if you're potentially a competitor. And, you know, this job is a coaching job. It's not a playing role.
Bazid Khan: As a head coach, you've obviously got a lot of experience, you have coached almost all the world around. Could you sort of, in your own words and sort of summarise or is it possible to summarise your coaching philosophy as a Head Coach
Mike Hesson: Look, I guess I go back to trying to maximize talent and I think that that's the role of any head coach and I guess that I do that by building relationships. So once, I believe you can only coach a player once you actually understand the path they've been through.
I see my philosophy is trying to understand that and add value around that rather than trying to dictate necessarily the way they have to play.
Bazid Khan: So, it's a more holistic approach where you look at 360, look at every other aspect, not just how he's playing.
Mike Hesson: Yeah, absolutely. I think once you've got that relationship, you know, you understand what makes them tick, where they're trying to get to, the path they've already traveled. Only then I think you can add value. And yeah, it is a holistic approach. It's probably more an individual approach than necessarily, you know, we all have to do it my way.
Bazid Khan: White ball cricket, this is quite a generic question but white ball cricket your coaching philosophy does it, you've already said 360 but how do you rank the importance with say tactics, say team culture and then working on actual sort of technical issues that it has.
Mike Hesson: Look, I think for me, you've got to understand what the team culture is already and then try and develop that. And I think, as I said, that always takes time. But I think firstly, players deserve the right to know what's expected of them.
If they're not at the point you want, then what do they need to do to get to that point. So a lot of communication around that. You know, from me, from a technical point of view. That's a lot of my backgrounds around technical coaching, but it's also observing a player first before you know when to intervene.
Bazid Khan: Salman Ali Agha, currently is the captain, how does that, the coach and captain work, especially during a match day, is it the captain left to his authority to say you're in the field, you have the eleven, you now make the decisions and we've worked on tactics and everything beforehand or your input during the game is also ongoing.
Mike Hesson: Look, we do a lot of our work before the game. We have a lot of meetings, we talk about things, and then I talk before we leave the hotel as a group. And then when we arrive at the ground, it's Salman's time, and I'm there to support.
So, without doubt, I am going around talking to players. I trust Salman, I am certainly not someone who be sending out lots of messages, but if I do send something out, it's an option. And if they've thought of it before and they decide to do something else, I've got no problem with that.
Bazid Khan: And just on that aspect, as a head coach here in Pakistan, will you be looking at sort of maybe scouting players and looking around the domestic circuit where the players are developing and maybe just be able to help them as well
Mike Hesson: Yeah, that's certainly part of the head coach's role. You know, Pakistan's a huge country, so I'm not going to be able to get around everything. But, you know, there'll be some identified groups of players where I'll be very keen to go and have a look and talk and meet players.
And once again, just make sure there's a real pathway in terms of what these are. This is what it looks like if you want to play for Pakistan. And, you know, anybody who's able to show these skills in any particular role, you'll be considered.
We want players that all turn up well aware. They're all great athletes, they're all trained very well, they're good in the field, they can play a particular role, whether it be with bat and ball, ideally, they are multi-skilled, or they're particularly good at one skill and then an outstanding fielder.
Bazid Khan: Once Mike Hesson is hopefully here for a long time, maybe five years, maybe 10 years, maybe two years, but once Mike Hesson’s walks away or goes away from Pakistan cricket, what would he have wanted to achieve and be able to then look back at
Mike Hesson: Look, I would like the Pakistan public to go, hey, this is a great team to watch. This is a team that we have a huge amount of respect for. Every game, they put their body on the line and give it everything. And we know that if they don't win, they're going to make it incredibly hard for the opposition to win.
And I think if I can leave that sort of legacy, because I think when you leave, if when you leave, things fall over, then you haven't done a great job. For me it's about building that succession planning as well so that for those that come and follow they can sort of hopefully continue on a good model.
