Hesson keeps his head down as Pakistan try to pick up the pieces

Interim coach stresses he was not privy to squad upheaval, before being drafted in at short notice

Mike Hesson, who was rushed in this week to take over Pakistan's Test side, said he was caught slightly unawares by the massive squad reshuffle the PCB undertook in England earlier this week.

Hesson, who confirmed he was only an interim Test coach for now, admitted the last few days had been challenging, but aimed to narrow his focus to the third Test at Edgbaston rather than the mayhem surrounding the team.

"I'm coming in at the moment as interim," Hesson said at a press conference in Birmingham, where Pakistan had a training session on Friday morning. "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."

The last-minute nature of the appointment means plenty of things are still being worked out. Hesson was not part of the decision-making process that led to the players being sent home, and will largely be working with what he has walked into. The players who have left the Test squad include Salman Ali Agha, Hesson's T20I captain ever since the New Zealander was appointed Pakistan's white-ball coach, and a player he has a close relationship with.RelatedHesson: Pakistan 'have to hold their nerve' to develop new talent

Pakistan squad, management set for overhaul after Lord's defeat

Pakistan send seven players home and bring in Hesson to coach Test side

Switch Hit: Inside Pakistan's mid-tour meltdown

Mohsin Naqvi on Pakistan's changes: No option if players don't perform

"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. The other two were removed before I was involved.

"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.

"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."

Perhaps the most perplexing decision of the lot was the release of Ali Usman, by many measures among Pakistan's best performers on the tour. After taking a five-wicket haul in the warm-up game last month, he followed up with another five-wicket haul in Leeds, becoming the first visiting spinner since 1972 to do so. At Lord's, with conditions excessively partial to seam bowling, he was required to bowl just 12 overs.

For Hesson, though, that lack of a suitable role for him justified his omission. "Ali Usman is a quality bowler," Hesson said. "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."

It was one of the clearest answers the incoming Test coach provided with respect to a specific selectorial decision. By and large, Hesson opted to keep his answers broad, and his focus narrow: on the third Test of the series as Pakistan look to avoid their second 3-0 whitewash against England in three series.

"We worry about things we can actually control and we prepare as well as we can," he said. "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."

However, there was no denying the ordeal the squad has been put through, with Hesson accepting "without doubt" that players would have been hurt by the way the decisions were taken. Some players, it was reported, had not been told they were being sent back until it was officially announced, while in at least one case - that of Imam-ul-Haq - there was public criticism from high-performance director Aaqib Javed.

"It was a really difficult situation for everybody, for those coming in, those leaving," he said. "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."