Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has hit back at fans in Karachi who burnt effigies of him and his players following their heavy defeat against Australia in the first cricket Test.

Mass crowds gathered in the streets of the Pakistan capital to express their anger after the humiliating 491-run defeat in Perth.

The tourists have also had to endure a stream of criticism from former Pakistan greats - a reaction Woolmer condemned as counter-productive as his team prepare for the second Test in Melbourne.

"What are people trying to achieve?" he asked.

"For example, the burning of the effigies. Are they trying to burn the people that are doing their job? That's crazy.

"When a team is at its lowest ebb, which obviously it was, it's very simple to knock everyone involved in it.

"To be fair, when you perform like that you deserve to be criticised.

"But the criticism before the match, and continually of everything generally, undermines the players and everyone around the team," he told The Advertiser.

Former Warwickshire and South Africa coach Woolmer, who has vowed to continue in the job until his contract expires after the 2007 World Cup, admits Pakistan's failure to settle on an opening partnership has adversely affected the side.

The ex-England Test batsman said: "Since Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar, by their own admission, they have been struggling to find an opening partnership.

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