It’s difficult to find many chairs in the cricketing hierarchy that haven’t been occupied by Geoff Lawson.

Lawson v Botham, Headingley, 1981. Ah, the good ol’ days Lawson v Botham, Headingley, 1981. Ah, the good ol’ days.
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He spent a decade at pitch-level, garnering 180 Test scalps at the sharp end of Australia’s bowling attack throughout the ’80s. He skippered NSW over four seasons, winning the Sheffield Shield in his final summer. He sat in the commentary box, he spoke on radio, he wrote newspaper columns. And then he assumed the Pakistani coach’s throne in the wake of Bob Woolmer’s death. He led the Pakis to the final of the T20 World Cup, before being summarily flicked a year later when a new regime stormed PCB headquarters. On top of all that, he’s charming, cheerful and full of insight. Just the man to dissect Australia’s slide as the rampant Proteas cross the Indian Ocean

You coached Pakistan to a recent series loss against the Proteas. What are your predictions for this series?

South Africa are a good, tough cricket team. JP Duminy looks like he’ll be an outstanding batsman, and they’ve got such a good stock of quick bowlers, they’re looking to phase out Ntini. Their spin bowling? They’ll stick with Harris, but they’ll have a plan of how to use him. They’ll be a quality opponent and they won’t take any backward steps if Australia try the verbal on them. There’ll be clashes there. I think both teams are very evenly matched and if Australia doesn’t get its act together on some internal issues … Look, it could go either way. It’ll probably come down to a couple of great catches or a great innings or a great bowling spell.

Speaking of Australia’s internal issues, what are your thoughts on Ricky Ponting’s captaincy?

When you’ve got great players, it’s easy. Look at Clive Lloyd – throw the ball to a fast bowler and put everyone behind the wicket. You don’t have to “captain” those sort of teams. But with the loss of Warne, Gilchrist and McGrath, Ponting’s now being faced with challenges and he’s not meeting them. And he’s going to have more challenges coming up with South Africa and the Ashes. It’s going to be a highly stressful time.

Are his responses to these “challenges” too defensive?

Well, it’s a natural human reaction to be defensive. But to me, one of his biggest errors came after that fourth Test in India. Okay, he made a tactical error, but the fact that he couldn’t admit it, the fact he kept defending his decision, that’s a concern. His introspection needs to be a lot more detailed. What do they say? The first step to correcting a mistake is admitting you made one. And he’s not admitting he’s making mistakes. Good leaders are critical of themselves and he’s not being critical.

What about our bowling? Were you alarmed at how toothless our attack looked in India?

Yeah, they certainly didn’t look to have much penetration. They just tried to wear people down and then they didn’t have a quality spinner to come in and do a holding job, so after the first Test the Indian batsmen realised they just weren’t going to be challenged too much. I mean, even Mitchell Johnson’s 13 wickets in four Tests – that’s not bad for a stock bowler, but it’s not what you want from a strike bowler. Plus, he snagged a couple down leg side, and picked up a few tailenders. He never really threatened the top order. So yes, it’s a concern.