Two years removed from the job, and Jason Gillespie still hasn’t been paid what he’s owed. That alone would be a story. What makes it a bigger one is that unpaid money isn’t even the main complaint – it’s just the detail that proves how badly things were handled while he was there.
Gillespie confirmed to that the PCB still owes him thousands of dollars in unpaid remuneration, nearly two years after his sacking as Pakistan’s Test head coach in December 2024 – a tenure that lasted less than a year. But he’s framed the unpaid wages less as a grievance to chase and more as evidence: proof, in his telling, that speaking honestly cost him more than it should have, and that he was never willing to trade that honesty for a paycheck.
Jason Gillespie Says He Was Systematically Sidelined by Pakistan Cricket Authorities
The more serious allegation is about power, not payment. Gillespie says he arrived believing he’d been hired to help revive Pakistan’s fast-bowling culture – pitches with more bounce and carry, an environment built for pace bowlers to thrive. He described being genuinely excited about that mandate. Then, in his account, the appointment of former fast bowler Aaqib Javed as a selector changed everything. What started as a role managing the Test side, its players, staff, and selection input gradually narrowed, by his description, into having no say in anything at all.
Gillespie didn’t soften how that experience affected him. “I was totally disrespected and undermined, and I direct that towards Aaqib Javed,” he said – adding that the fallout left him mentally affected, doubting himself, and questioning whether he wanted to stay involved in coaching at all.
Javed’s Continued Role Is What’s Really Bothering Him Now
What seems to sting most isn’t the past – it’s the present. Javed remains chairman of selectors, and Gillespie has taken issue with Javed reportedly pointing to Gillespie and Gary Kirsten as part of the explanation for Pakistan’s struggles, despite both having left the setup nearly two years ago. Gillespie’s counter is blunt: if performance is the standard Javed wants to be judged by, Pakistan has actually dropped in the rankings across all three formats during his time as chairman – not improved, as Javed has claimed.
The Timing Makes This Impossible to Ignore
This isn’t a coach airing old grievances in a vacuum. It lands as the PCB runs an internal enquiry into a Test series collapse against England – back-to-back losses that triggered wholesale changes to the squad and team management.
Gillespie argues that the dysfunction was never just about results on the field; it’s about who actually holds power in Pakistan cricket, and how long that person gets to hold it while the team keeps sliding. With an official enquiry now underway, his account of being stripped of authority and left to answer for a system he says he no longer controlled is exactly the kind of testimony that enquiry can’t easily wave off.