To want to take charge of Pakistan, it has often been said that a coach would need to be a farsighted individual, but instead the country’s cricket board has chosen a qualified optometrist. Geoff Lawson, the former Australia fast bowler, will succeed the late Bob Woolmer after accepting the offer of a two-year contract from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which selected him ahead of Dav Whatmore and Richard Done, his fellow Australians. Lawson’s first assignment will be to oversee the ICC World Twenty20 in September, followed by home series against South Africa and Australia, with a tour to India in between.

A backdrop of political machinations and the notorious inconsistency of players have combined to make the Pakistan job one of the toughest in world cricket, with 12 appointments in the past ten years. With a murder investigation under way after Woolmer’s sudden passing at the World Cup in March, it seemed an impossible task for the PCB to attract another foreign coach. Once the cause of death had been revised to natural causes, however, a cloud was lifted from Pakistan cricket and the door was opened to the likes of Lawson.

“I got a call asking whether I would be interested and I waited on the findings of the Bob Woolmer case because that was important,” Lawson said. “Two months ago, this [job] was a long way from my mind. But I met with the board and players and was very impressed with the set-up. It is such a talented team that you have to be excited about working with them.”

If it takes an enlightened mind to relish such a challenge, the PCB has also shown itself capable of flexible thought in looking well beyond the obvious candidates. Lawson, 49, is a Level Three-qualified coach, but his experience of first-class coaching is limited to a stint with New South Wales in the Pura Cup. Whatmore, by contrast, has attracted plaudits for his work as coach of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while Done is the ICC’s high performance manager.

Lawson has not been in an international dressing-room since he played the last of his 46 Tests in 1989, but has remained close to the game as a broadcaster and journalist. He forged a reputation as an astute leader when he captained New South Wales from 1988 to 1992, his aggressive style influencing Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, both of whom would go on to captain Australia.

Lawson is understood to have clinched his new job by impressing the Pakistan players when he visited them at a training camp. He joins Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, and David Moore, West Indies’ caretaker coach, as Australians in charge of overseas teams.