Pakistan invite Whatmore, Lawson and Done to interviews

KARACHI, June 16 (Reuters) Pakistan cricket authorities have shortlisted three former Australian players for the job of coaching the national team, a senior official said today.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is searching for a foreign coach to replace former England player Bob Woolmer who died during the World Cup in the West Indies.

''We have shortlisted Dav Whatmore, Geoff Lawson and Richard Done for the coaching position,'' Zakir Khan, director of cricket operations on the board, told Reuters today.

Khan said Done had already arrived in Pakistan for an interview tomorrow while Lawson was due on June 18 and Whatmore around June 22.

''We are confident we will finalise our coach before the Pakistan team goes to Scotland for the one-day matches against India and Scotland in early July,'' Khan said.

''The feeling is we need a foreign, qualified and energetic coach who can motivate our team and realise its potential,'' he said.

Whatmore has been coach of the Sri Lankan team, leading them to the 1996 World Cup, and also the Bangladesh team.

He had been a candidate to take the vacant post of India cricket coach, after Greg Chappell quit following the team's shock first-round exit from the World Cup, but was eliminated from contention last week.

Lawson is with the New South Wales team. Done, who has worked with the Australian Cricket Academy, replaced Woolmer as the International Cricket Council's (ICC) high-performance manager when the Englishman joined the Pakistan team.

REUTERS GT MIR RAI2235