Steve Rixon Decides Against Renewing his Contract as a Fielding Coach of Pakistan

Pakistan fielding coach, Steve Rixon has decided against renewing his contract ahead of the 2019 World Cup. His contract expires in June.

Rixon will complete his ongoing assignment with Pakistan on their tours of Ireland and England. It remains to be seen who succeeds Rixon ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

The 64-year old decided not to renew his contract owing to personal reasons. It includes spending more time with family. The news was confirmed by a senior official of Pakistan Cricket Board on the promise of anonymity. Meanwhile, the rest of the support staff of Pakistan have their contracts until the 2019 World Cup.

Rixon came into the Pakistan set-up alongside national coach, Mickey Arthur in the year 2016. He had replaced Grant Luden. Grant was relieved from his roles as a trainer and a fielding coach under former head coach, Waqar Younis.

Since then, Luden has been working with the Pakistan national team as a fitness trainer. He was also a part of the coaching staff which Arthur had with Australia between 2011 and 2014.

On the other hand, Rixon held various positions during his tenure with the Aussies. He was the fielding coach, spin bowling coach and also the assistant coach.

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Meanwhile, it must be noted that PCB hasn’t begun the process of searching the successor ahead of their next assignment against Zimbabwe from August.

There is a possibility that Luden could replace Rixon. As per reports in the ESPN Cricinfo, it is learnt that Rixon met PCB Chairman Najam Sethi about a couple of weeks ago and had discussions on the renewal of his contract.

However, yesterday, Rixon decided he was not willing to carry on, as his family was not happy with him staying away all the time. Under Rixon, Pakistan has improved by leaps and bounds in fielding. It has been quite visible from their performances especially in the white ball format.

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