In April 2024, the PCB appointed Gillespie as the head coach in red-ball cricket and former South African batter Gary Kirsten was roped in for a similar role in white-ball formats (Cricket Australia)
Former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie, who was also the head coach of the Pakistan national team for 9 months after being appointed in 2024, said that the Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to sack Tim Nielsen as high performance red-ball coach without zero communications left him completely humiliated and hastened his exit from the team.
“I was coaching the Pakistan Test side. The PCB sacked our senior assistant coach with ZERO communication with me about it- as Head Coach I found this situation completely unacceptable,” Gillespie wrote on ‘X’ when asked by a user why he had left his role with the Pakistan Test team. “There were a number of other issues which left me completely humiliated,” he added.
In April 2024, the PCB appointed Gillespie as the head coach in red-ball cricket and former South African batter Gary Kirsten was roped in for a similar role in white-ball formats. However, Kirsten’s resignation in October later that year followed Gillespie’s in December, when Nielsen was communicated by the PCB that his services would not be needed before the tour of South Africa 2024-25. A former head coach of the Australian team, Nielsen was appointed as the high performance red-ball coach in August 2024.
I was coaching the Pakistan Test side. The PCB sacked our senior assistant coach with ZERO communication with me about it- as Head Coach I found this situation completely unacceptable. There were a number of other issues which left me completely humiliated.@stillnotoutpod https://t.co/AqATYAfiyg
— Jason Gillespie (@dizzy259) January 1, 2026
In between his resignation and the exit of Kirsten, Gillespie had also served as the interim white-ball coach. Gillespie was succeeded by former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed across formats, who was also serving on the selection panel. While he was with the Pakistan team, Gillespie felt he was “completely and utterly blindsided” by the PCB.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back, I suppose, was, as a head coach, you like to have clear communication with your employer. Tim Nielsen was told that his services were no longer required and I had absolutely zero communication from anyone about that, and I just thought after a number of other things that had gone on in the previous few months, that was probably the moment where I thought, ‘Well, I’m not really sure if they actually really want me to do this job or not,” he had said in an interview in December 2024 after his resignation.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
