 | I don't suffer fools and I don't put up with second best |
Geoff Lawson's elevation to the role of Pakistan's national team coach, where he succeeds the late Bob Woolmer, gives the man from Wagga Wagga his biggest role in cricket to date. His 46 Tests, where he occasionally shone as a talented outswing bowler, were shoe-horned into the 1980s.
He took 180 wickets at a decent average of 30.56 and helped Australia regain the Ashes in 1989, but two years earlier missed out on selection for the World Cup as Allan Border's side lifted the trophy.
Lawson's experiences in international cricket stood him in good stead for when he captained New South Wales in 1988 to 1992, where he won both domestic trophies.
It has been said that his brand of aggressive, positive captaincy influenced the leadership skills of Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, young team-mates at NSW who went on to become two of Australia's finest captains.
And after confirming his acceptance of Pakistan's offer, he reminded reporters that his affable exterior conceals a steely core.
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"I don't suffer fools and I don't put up with second best," he said.
In his 15 years since retirement, Lawson, now 49, has had only limited experience of coaching.
What he has done in that time is a lot of media work, for radio and newspapers, and he has established a reputation as an astute observer.
Some nine months before the last Ashes series started, he told BBC Sport Stuart Clark would be a top performer.
Many pundits did not even have Clark starting the series, but he ended it as the top wicket-taker.
The safe option for Pakistan would have been to install Dav Whatmore as their new coach.
Whatmore unexpectedly won a World Cup for Sri Lanka in 1996 and turned Bangladesh from no-hopers into an almost decent team in one-day cricket.
 Lawson meeting Pakistan Cricket Board members in June |
But instead eyes will be fixed on Lawson, who is also a qualified optometrist.
"It is a big job and opportunities like this come along very seldom," he told the BBC.
"I have met a number of [Pakistan's players] being a commentator and travelling around, and have had a number of conversations with them.
"They then welcomed me very warmly at their training camp. A relationship was established there very quickly and I was rather pleased by that.
"They are a fantastically skilful squad of players. That's the kind of thing I love to see and to be offered the job is a real bonus."
The great Pakistan clich� is that they are a mercurial team, yo-yoing between brilliant successes and calamitous defeats.
Lawson knows he needs to get his players "mentally up" for every day they play cricket - no easy task given the unprecedented demands on their time.
 Botham hooks Lawson for four during the 1981 Ashes |
"Their first engagement will be the Twenty20 World Cup in mid-September and within a week of the final they're in a Test match with India.
"That will be a challenge preparing for Test cricket on the back of Twenty20 cricket. We've got a lot of work to do."
Under former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan were sometimes criticised for being overly religious.
But Lawson is unconcerned, saying: "There's a bit of a myth, I think, about the culture.
"Most of the players are just standard blokes. Most play county cricket.
"There are going to be some cultural challenges but I don't think it's quite as major as a few people like to make out."
He is also well aware of Woolmer's avuncular status within the previous Pakistan set-up: "Bob was very popular with the Pakistan players.
"He set a very good foundation and the players have a very high regard for what Bob did."
If Lawson can achieve the same rapport with the team that Woolmer - another outsider - managed, then half his job will be done.
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