Jason Gillespie has publicly stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board still owes him thousands of dollars in unpaid remuneration, a claim he has made nearly two years after walking away from his position as Pakistan’s red-ball coach in December 2024.
The PCB had signed Gillespie on a two-year contract in April 2024, with Gary Kirsten joining simultaneously as white-ball coach. Gillespie served approximately eight months of that deal before stepping away on December 12, 2024, when he refused to board his flight to join Pakistan’s Test squad in South Africa.
“The PCB still owes me thousands of dollars, but I was never going to be a yes man. I wasn’t going to compromise on my principles. I never have throughout my career and I certainly wasn’t going to change,” Gillespie said, speaking to The Telegraph.
What led to Gillespie losing his role within the Pakistan setup?
Gillespie has described a sharp reduction in his day-to-day authority following the appointment of former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed as a selector. He says the change fundamentally altered his standing within the management structure, leaving him with no meaningful involvement in running the Test side.
“I was totally disrespected and undermined, and I direct that towards Aaqib Javed. Aaqib came in and took over. It appeared to me that he was in charge of absolutely everything. I went from looking after the Test side, managing that and looking after the players and the staff and having a role in selection to then absolutely no role in anything. The whole experience just deflated me and put me off coaching,” Gillespie said.
Kirsten had resigned as Pakistan’s white-ball coach in October 2024 over disagreements with the PCB. Aaqib Javed was subsequently appointed interim white-ball coach in late October 2024 and then interim Test coach in December 2024 after Gillespie’s own departure.
What is Gillespie’s position on Aaqib Javed’s continued role at the PCB?
Gillespie has pointed to Pakistan’s declining rankings across all three formats since Javed took over as chairman of selectors, and questioned why Javed has retained his position while he and Kirsten have faced public criticism. Pakistan also lost back-to-back Test matches in a recent series against England, prompting the PCB to launch an internal enquiry and make wholesale changes.
“Aaqib is still chairman of selectors. He’s kept his job. He’s had a crack at Gary Kirsten and I, blaming us for where Pakistan cricket is where it is. Gary and I haven’t even been there for two years. Yet, he has been the chairman of selectors for two years and he’s claimed as well that Pakistan’s performances have improved. Well, no, Aaqib, I’m sorry they haven’t. You’ve actually gone down in the rankings in all three formats since you took over,” Gillespie had earlier said on the Fast Bowling Cartel Podcast.
