Birmingham [UK], September 5 (ANI): Mike Hesson admitted that “things have happened very quickly” since he was brought into Pakistan’s Test set-up at short notice following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) sweeping changes during the ongoing England series, with the New Zealander calling the developments a “difficult” and “unfortunate” situation, as per Cricinfo.Hesson also revealed that he is “coming in at the moment as interim”.Pakistan made drastic changes to their Test set-up ahead of the third and final Test against England from September 9, replacing almost half of their squad and releasing head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul following heavy defeats in the first two Tests against Three Lions.The changes come after Pakistan suffered a 194-run defeat in the second Test, allowing England to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. PCB released seven players from the squad, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad after the loss at Lord’s.In their place, Pakistan have brought in five uncapped players along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. The five uncapped players added to the squad are Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah.The PCB roped in Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke, who are part of Pakistan’s white-ball coaching set-up as head coach and bowling coach, respectively.Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the England vs Pakistan 3rd Test in Birmingham, Hesson called the mid-series changes difficult and unfortunate but said he was focused on preparing the team for the final Test and making positive progress.”It was a really difficult situation for everybody, for those coming in, those leaving. I don’t think anyone wants these sorts of things to happen in the middle of a series, clearly not. It’s been an unfortunate situation, and my focus is very much on where to from here. I’m not going to dig too deep into that at the moment; I’m pretty much focused on what lies ahead, and if we’re able to make some good strides this week, then that’s going to be a good start,” he said, as quoted by Cricinfo.Hesson said he was appointed Pakistan’s interim Test coach at short notice, with the PCB’s changes unfolding quickly while he was preparing for the Asian Games in Japan.”I’m coming in at the moment as interim. Things have obviously happened very quickly. I was actually just in Japan preparing for the Asian Games. I was back in Lahore and then, as I’ve said, I was brought over here relatively quickly because changes were going to take place. I was asked to be part of that. We pulled together things as quickly as we could,” he said.Hesson said he was not aware of the exact reasons behind the players’ removals, but defended Salman Ali Agha, calling him one of Pakistan’s best players despite his recent poor run.”I don’t know the details of why they’ve been removed. I’ve read what you guys have read; I’ve heard those things. I think Salman Ali Agha has been one of the best players for the last couple of years. He’s had probably three poor Tests, but he’s a fine player. And I think he’s obviously disappointed to not be involved,” he said.Hesson said he had no role in selecting Pakistan’s original Test squad and only became involved after the changes were made. He said his priority was to build a balanced squad and bowling attack suited to English conditions.”Up until now, I haven’t been involved in red-ball cricket [in Pakistan] at all, so I’m not part of the selection panel. I’m part of the white-ball selection panel. When this side was selected for this tour I had no involvement at all. When I took over, there were three players that had already left the squad, with Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, and Salman Ali Agha,” he said.”From there it was a matter of trying to find a balanced squad for us for the third Test. Obviously, we needed to make changes anyway. And we needed to find a balance that gives us a bowling attack with the best chance to compete in these conditions. That was the starting point,” Hesson added.PCB’s one of the most surprising decisions was the release of Ali Usman, who had been one of Pakistan’s best performers on the tour. He took five wickets in the warm-up match last month and followed it up with another five-wicket haul in Leeds. At Lord’s, where the conditions favoured fast bowlers, he bowled only 12 overs.Hesson said Ali Usman is a quality bowler but explained that a non-batting finger-spinner is difficult to include in England due to conditions and limited opportunities to bowl.”Ali Usman is a quality bowler. But you’ve seen the conditions over here in the UK. The ability to play a finger-spinner in a playing XI in England at this time of year, who doesn’t bat, is unlikely. In different conditions around the world he could well still be in the mix moving forward. But over here, we can’t carry a finger-spinner that’s going to bowl two overs an innings, who can’t contribute either with that or in the field,” he said.Hesson said Pakistan would focus on what they can control, with the new players expected to bring fresh energy and greater variety to the bowling attack.”We worry about things we can actually control and we prepare as well as we can. We know what we’re going to face and some players have had a modicum of success during those two Tests that they can draw on, and those that haven’t have obviously got to make some shifts. There are some fresh faces as well, some haven’t even arrived yet, they arrived today. And that will bring plenty of energy to the group and excitement. And a bit of variety to our bowling attack, which I think is really important for us moving forward,” he said. (ANI)(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)