PCB's Foreign Coach Project: Pakistan Women's Team's New Beginning After the Wahab Riaz Era

I have watched the Pakistan women's cricket team closely over the past few years, perhaps more closely than most. When I pore over the scorebook of women's cricket from my desk in Kolkata, a pattern becomes clear—Pakistan's women have always been the team that 'gets almost there and then falls short'. Good performances in major tournaments before the knockout stage, then a collapse under pressure. Now, amidst this, news has emerged that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to appoint Shane Deitz, former head coach of the West Indies women's team, as the new head coach of the Pakistan women's team. This is not just a coaching appointment—it is the story of the PCB stepping back from the model where domestic former male cricketers were given charge of the women's team.

The most interesting aspect of this news is that it comes immediately after the consultancy role given to Wahab Riaz some time ago. This sequence—first bringing in Wahab, then removing him to bring in a foreign coach—is in itself a mirror of the PCB's working style. I have noted in my scorebook that the backroom staff of the Pakistan women's team has always been filled with former male international players. Abdur Rehman, Imran Farhat, Umaid Asif—all are former Pakistan men's cricketers. This is the first time that the leadership of the women's team is being given to someone who has completed a full three-year cycle in women's international cricket.

This appointment is a statement in itself—the PCB is acknowledging that the model of domestic former male players was not sufficient for women's cricket.

Wahab Riaz himself, in his conversations, identified the shortcomings—game awareness, tactical execution, and performance under pressure—pointing to the deeper problems of women's cricket that cannot be solved by changing coaches alone. Shane Deitz's selection is the logical consequence of that diagnosis. A coach who has spent three years with a team like the West Indies, who understands the workload and skill baselines of women players, can avoid the mistake of imposing men's cricket methods on the women's game.

But there is a big question written in the margins of my scorebook. How much time has the PCB given Deitz? According to reports, he will assume his responsibilities ahead of the West Indies tour in mid-December. This is the same West Indies tour whose schedule Cricket West Indies has not yet announced. That is, a new coach, who needs time to understand the team, establish his system, and build rapport with the players, is being thrown into a series on foreign soil with weeks, not months, of preparation.

The biggest lesson I have learned sitting in the Eden Gardens media overflow is that the impact of a coaching change takes time to show on the field. Any new coach needs at least six to eight months to understand which player responds how under pressure, whose fitness behaves how in which season. Deitz does not have that luxury. The West Indies tour will be his test, but he is being given this test without a syllabus.

Cricket West Indies' failure to announce the schedule is an administrative lapse that directly affects the PCB's preparation.

Now, the angle that outsiders miss. Whenever a foreign coach takes charge of a subcontinental team, the media and fans weave the same story—'a foreign coach has arrived, everything will be fine now.' But my scorebook says something else. Pakistan women's team's real problem is not coaching, it is the system. The structure of domestic women's cricket, the lack of scouting, and most importantly—the limited experience of top-level competition. Deitz is not the solution to these problems; he is just a beginning.

This is where I am reminded of my South African experience. When I looked closely at the SA20 and IPL scouting pipelines, I understood that bringing in a foreign coach seems like a very cheap and quick fix for smaller boards—but it only works if the domestic structure can absorb that foreign knowledge. If Abdur Rehman, Imran Farhat and Umaid Asif in the backroom do not adopt Deitz's system, this experiment will only succeed on paper.

I have always kept one thing in mind in my reporting—what is not visible in the scorebook matters most. The same happened with Deitz's appointment. No report mentions what his win-loss record with the West Indies was. No one asked how many players he prepared for international level in three years. It was only mentioned that he is 51 years old and a former Australian cricketer. This information is not enough.

When a coaching appointment story lacks the coach's record, that is itself a signal—either the record was unavailable, or it was not worth selling.

As someone who keeps charts long after everyone goes home, I have also noted that this appointment is a source-based story, cited by Geo News from 'sources'. There has been no official confirmation from the PCB. This is common in Pakistani cricket—first news comes from sources, then weeks later there is an official announcement. But it is also true that coaches come and go frequently at the PCB. How many months had passed since Wahab Riaz's appointment when this news came that he was being removed? This instability is fatal for players. For a women's player at an important stage of her career, it is important to know whether her coach will still be there six months from now.

Now the question that will be decided in the coming weeks. How many years' contract has the PCB given Deitz? If it is a one-year rolling contract, understand that the board itself is not confident about this experiment. If it is three years, it is a long-term investment. The West Indies tour will start in mid-December, and after that is the Women's T20 World Cup in June 2026. Deitz has the time between these two to prove that this foreign coach experiment can move from paper to ground.

In my scorebook, under this appointment, I have written a line—'Let's see if the PCB sticks to its decision this time.'

When I walk out of the stadium and return, I often think about who suffers the most in cricket. The answer comes—the player who worked hard with one coach for three years, and in the fourth year has to prove herself to a new stranger. The Pakistan women's players have no opportunity to complain. They have only one path—to make the new coach their own, and to build as quickly as possible the trust that could not be built even in Wahab Riaz's short tenure. Shane Deitz has everything a good coach should have—experience, understanding of women's cricket, and the lesson of completing a full cycle. But he does not have what is most important—time. And in Pakistani cricket, time has always been a luxury that no one gets.