Mike Hesson Clarifies Role Amid Pakistan Test Squad Changes
Pakistan’s chaotic build‑up to the third Test against England took another twist as interim red-ball coach Mike Hesson publicly stepped away from responsibility for the most high-profile casualties of the squad cull.
With the series already lost after heavy defeats at Headingley and Lord’s, the Pakistan Cricket Board swung the axe. Seven players were released from the Test squad, the coaching staff was reshuffled, and Hesson was parachuted in for the final match at Edgbaston, starting September 9.
He wants it clear: the biggest names were gone before he even walked through the door.
“They were already on their way home”
Speaking to the media in Birmingham on Friday, Hesson underlined that he had no hand in the decision to send Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha and Imam-ul-Haq back home.
"When they (Pakistan Cricket Board) told me if I could manage the side for the final Test, these three players (Rizwan, Agha and Imam) were already released from the squad and (were) on their way home. So, I really don't know what happened there," Hesson said.
By the time the PCB approached him, the clear-out at the senior end of the dressing room was already under way. Rizwan, a key figure with the gloves and the bat; Agha, one of the more dependable middle-order options; and Imam, a regular at the top of the order — all cut loose before the new coach had a say.
The message from Hesson was deliberate. The decision on those three belonged to others.
Series in ruins, changes in waves
The backdrop is brutal. England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley, then followed up with a 194-run victory at Lord’s to seal the series 2-0 with a Test to spare. Under that kind of pressure, the PCB opted for sweeping change rather than minor tweaks.
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Salman Ali Agha
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Ali Usman
- Aamir Jamal
- Muhammad Awais Zafar
- Khurram Shahzad
were all released from the squad. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were also relieved of their duties.
Only after that upheaval did the board turn to Hesson and hand him control of a wounded Test side for Edgbaston.
Hesson’s stamp on the rest
While he drew a firm line around the departures of Rizwan, Agha and Imam, Hesson accepted that he did influence what happened next.
"I was involved in the release of the rest of the players and the inclusion of some new players," he said.
That is where his tenure truly begins: reshaping the remaining group, identifying who stays, who goes, and which fresh faces deserve a shot in a dead rubber that suddenly feels like a trial ground for Pakistan’s red-ball future.
Hesson’s arrival has been anything but smooth. He had only just stepped away from one assignment when another landed.
"We already had a white-ball camp in Lahore and I had just returned from Japan where the Asian Games are taking place, when I was asked if I could manage the red-ball squad," he added.
One week, he is working with Pakistan’s white-ball setup, fresh from a camp in Lahore and duty around the Asian Games. The next, he is thrust into a Test crisis in England, asked to steady a side that has been comprehensively outplayed and then dramatically reshuffled.
The task now is stark: restore some pride, inject a different balance into the XI, and show that the changes — the ones he owns and the ones he does not — can produce a response at Edgbaston.
