Mike Hesson's Commitment to Pakistan's Test Cricket Future
Mike Hesson has made it clear: he wants Pakistan’s Test job, and he wants it properly, not as a stop-gap.
The 51-year-old New Zealander, parachuted in for the third Test at Edgbaston after Sarfaraz Ahmed was removed from the role, says he is “open” to taking the position on a permanent basis and believes there is enough talent in Pakistan’s system to build something meaningful.
He has already turned down one of the biggest jobs in world cricket to stay where he is.
Hesson chooses Pakistan over England
Hesson revealed he was sounded out about the England Test role earlier this year, during the turbulence that followed Brendon McCullum’s sacking in July. The England and Wales Cricket Board ultimately appointed another New Zealander, Stephen Fleming, but not before Hesson’s name came into the frame.
“I was contacted by my agent to say there had been an approach to have a discussion around my availability, as I'm sure many people were,” Hesson said. He didn’t entertain it for long.
“I made it pretty clear I had committed to Pakistan.”
That line matters. It underlines how firmly he sees his future tied, at least for now, to a team that has just been outplayed in England but, in his eyes, is far from a lost cause.
Hesson, already Pakistan’s limited-overs coach since May 2025, stepped in as interim Test coach at Edgbaston after heavy defeats at Headingley and Lord’s cost Sarfaraz his job. The result – an eight‑wicket loss – will not decorate his CV, but the performance gave him enough encouragement to talk about long-term plans rather than short-term damage control.
“I love Test cricket”
Hesson does not hide his affection for the longest format or his belief that Pakistan can grow into it.
“I'll be open to it, for sure. I love Test cricket,” he said. “I think there's enough talent around the system in Pakistan that if we can provide some good direction, we can make some strides forward.
“It's certainly not going to happen in a game or two, but I think there is some skill there I'd certainly be considering looking after.”
That is classic Hesson: patient, process-driven, and thinking in years, not weeks. His track record backs it up. He spent six years in charge of New Zealand between 2012 and 2018, overseeing their rise into a hardened, respected Test outfit. He tends to settle in, build, then step away.
“Most of the positions I've been in, I've been in for five or six years. I see it through, then you have a break, then you refresh and try for something else,” he said.
Pakistan’s red-ball team, fragile and underprepared on this tour, would be a very different project to the one he inherited in Wellington. But the appeal for a coach like Hesson is obvious: raw talent, emotional investment, and a format crying out for attention in a white-ball-obsessed landscape.
Ramiz: “Time to revisit Test match cricket”
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja watched the Edgbaston defeat and saw something that had been missing earlier in the series: resistance.
He felt the eight‑wicket margin did not tell the whole story of a side beginning to respond, even in defeat.
Pakistan, he said, “put up a fight” – but he did not sugar-coat the wider picture.
“The red-ball side needs to receive more focus if they are to have any success,” Ramiz told BBC Test Match Special. “It's time to revisit Test match cricket. It's back to the drawing board because in the sub-continent not a lot of emphasis is put on Test match cricket.”
His words cut to the heart of the issue Hesson would have to tackle. This is not just about tactics or selection. It is about culture, preparation, and priorities in a system that has leaned heavily towards the shorter formats.
Ramiz pointed to the chaos that surrounded the team in recent weeks – Sarfaraz’s removal, the change in leadership, the scrutiny – as a factor that may have damaged the dressing-room environment.
“Obviously there was mayhem around the team and that may have hurt the dressing room environment. But Pakistan were also a little underdone, undercooked with preparation.”
Under-cooked, under-prepared, and under pressure. That is the landscape Hesson has walked into.
A crossroads for Pakistan’s red-ball future
The PCB now faces a decision that stretches beyond the identity of the next Test coach. It is about whether Pakistan are willing to give their red-ball cricket the time, space, and stability it needs to grow.
Hesson has signalled he is ready to commit, to bring the same long-haul mindset that shaped New Zealand’s rise. Ramiz has issued the warning that without a renewed seriousness about the format, no coach – however experienced – can drag Pakistan forward alone.
The defeats in England have exposed the gap. The question now is whether Pakistan treat this as a brief embarrassment to be moved on from, or the moment they finally decide Test cricket is worth building around again.
