Mike Hesson Commits to Pakistan Cricket as Interim Test Coach
Mike Hesson has nailed his colours to Pakistan’s mast – and revealed he turned down the chance to seriously explore the England job to do it.
The 51-year-old New Zealander, parachuted in as Pakistan’s interim Test coach for the third Test at Edgbaston, says he would “for sure” be interested in taking the role on a permanent basis.
Hesson stepped in after Sarfaraz Ahmed was removed from his Test duties following heavy defeats at Headingley and Lord’s, with the tourists comprehensively outplayed in both matches. The Pakistan Cricket Board turned to their limited-overs coach, appointed in May 2025, to steady a red-ball side clearly reeling.
The result in Birmingham – an eight-wicket defeat to England – did not alter the series storyline. But Hesson saw enough in the fight, structure and intent to convince him there is something to build on.
“I’ll be open to it, for sure. I love Test cricket,” he said, speaking after the Edgbaston loss. “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.”
Those are not the words of a man treating this as a short-term consultancy. They sound like the start of a project.
England came calling – but Hesson stayed put
Hesson’s stock in the Test game remains high after his six-year stint in charge of New Zealand from 2012 to 2018, a period that reshaped the Black Caps’ identity and laid the groundwork for their rise as a formidable multi-format side.
So when England sacked Brendon McCullum as their Test coach in July, it was no surprise that Hesson’s name surfaced at the England and Wales Cricket Board. Stephen Fleming, another Kiwi, eventually took the job – but not before Hesson’s availability was quietly checked.
“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 explained.
“I made it pretty clear I had committed to Pakistan.
“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.”
That line is telling. Hesson does not see himself as a stop-gap. His track record is of long cycles, slow builds, and teams that come out the other side tougher and more coherent. Pakistan’s red-ball game, drifting and undercooked, is crying out for exactly that kind of long-range thinking.
A team under strain, a format under threat
The Edgbaston defeat underlined the gap between Pakistan and a ruthless England side, yet it also offered flickers of resistance that former captain Ramiz Raja was quick to highlight.
Ramiz, speaking on BBC Test Match Special, felt the players had at least reconnected with the contest after the chaos of the previous two Tests.
Pakistan, he said, “put up a fight” in the eight-wicket defeat, but he did not sugarcoat the wider problem: the country’s Test side has slipped down the priority list.
“It’s time to revisit Test match cricket,” Ramiz said. “It’s back to the drawing board because in the sub-continent not a lot of emphasis is put on Test match cricket.
“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.”
That combination – mayhem off the field, minimal preparation on it, and a format fighting for oxygen – has left Pakistan’s Test team exposed. Hesson walks into a dressing room short on continuity and clarity, but not short on raw ability.
He knows it will not turn quickly. He has said so himself. Yet he also knows what a properly aligned system can do over five or six years.
If Pakistan are serious about “revisiting” Test cricket, as Ramiz demands, the next decision is obvious and unavoidable: do they hand the keys of the red-ball side to Hesson and let him run with it?
