“I have resigned with no regret”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Mohammad Akram has resigned as the coach of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy due to family reasons.
Akram’s resignation, which comes three months before his contract expires, has yet to be accepted, but the 41-year-old is adamant about stepping down as he wants to travel back to England, which is where his family are based.
“I have resigned with no regret,” Akram told ESPNcricinfo. “I have enjoyed every moment working with Pakistan cricket. I have done a lot to the best of my ability and I see the players now started to bloom. I worked so hard to get the system going and the result of my efforts is quite evident. I am leaving the set-up in safe hands.”
Akram initially joined the Pakistan set-up as the national team’s bowling coach three years ago, but since then, he has been a selector, head of the illegal bowling committee and Pakistan A’s coach.
Akram revealed that he had been mulling about resigning for numerous months as he found it hard to be away from his family for such a lengthy period of time.
“I am a family man but with this job from 9 to 5 in Lahore, living away form family, it isn’t working for me,” he said. “Earlier, when I was a bowling coach, I still had a time to visit my family frequently, but since then I have shifted to an in-house job I was not able to make it. I came here to contribute for cricket but at the same time my family is much more important.”
Akram is also under pressure for accepting a part-time job as an analyst with the host broadcaster during the ongoing Test series between Pakistan and England. However, he claims that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media director Amjad Hussain and the National Cricket Academy director Aizad Hussain Syed gave him permission to take up the media post on a temporary basis.
“I am not bothered at all about any undue criticism because I am here with the permission,” he said. “Back home at NCA, I didn’t have much to do as head coach as these are the idle months. I am not stepping down due to criticism but the main thing taken precedence in my resigning is just my family as I want to reconnect with my kids and my family back in England.”