SYDNEY, Oct 30: Geoff Lawson, who was sacked as the Pakistan coach last week, has said he was better off than other officials working with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) since he was paid out and got a decent exit.

“There are so many other staff who have been sacked or are leaving and I don’t think they got paid an awful lot,” Lawson was quoted as saying in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Lawson worked out a financial agreement with the PCB after sending back a cheque the cricket board had given him, claiming the payment was far short of what was owed to him as per the terms of his contract.

Under Lawson’s charge, Pakistan reached the World Twenty20 Championship final but then lost vital series against South Africa at home and India away.

Pakistan’s frontline fast bowlers, expected to prosper under a former fast bowler, were plagued by injuries, and the losses only added to the pressure on the new coach-captain pair of Lawson and Shoaib Malik.

“I am sorry to be leaving these guys,” Lawson said. “I went into this thing full of hope and enthusiasm. I just needed to get a few more pieces of the puzzle together and I won’t get a chance to do that.”

“It [the terror threat] feels so peripheral when you’re here. What is disappointing is we didn’t get a chance to prove how good we can be. I have seen what talent there is in this team, and it’s enormous. There are 25 players who could eventually be really good players if they are handled properly,” the former Australian fast bowler said. Lawson said as the Pakistan coach he got a chance to experience a different sort of life. “It has been a tremendous experience.”—Agencies