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Pakistan International

The PCB has allowed coach Geoff Lawson to extend his vacations till the end of this month due to lack of cricket action.

Sources said Lawson and Dwyer were due to return to Lahore from their vacations on Wednesday but now they would return on September 27th.

"Their vacation has been extended by the PCB which is understandable. But it is surprising that the Board is not utilising their services at the national cricket academy," one source told PTI.

This is the fourth time in five months that Lawson, a former Test player, has gone on vacation to his hometown of Sydney, leading to some governing body members in the Board questioning the terms of his contract.

Pakistan's new international and domestic season opens on October 4 with the national Twenty20 Championship followed by a four-nation international Twenty20 tournament in Toronto.

The Board is also trying to arrange a Test or one day series with the West Indies in November to make up for the lack of cricket opportunities for the players due to postponement of the Champions Trophy.

The frequent visits of Lawson to Australia in the last few months have also led to speculations about his relationship with the board, national selectors and some senior players who secretly now admit Dav Whatmore would have been a better choice as coach for the Pakistan team.

"The reason we didn't pick Whatmore was because of the negative feedback we got about his man management skills. The feeling was that since Lawson is new to international coaching and learning the ropes he would be ideal to work with our team," one board official said.