KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday named Mickey Arthur as their new coach, roping in the South African to replace Waqar Younis who stepped down in the aftermath of the country’s catastrophic campaign in the ICC World twenty20 championship in India earlier this year.
Arthur, who turns 48 later this month, is one of the big names in world cricket having served as national coach of two top-tier teams — South Africa and Australia in the past. But he had been struggling to find a decent job since Australia sacked him on the eve of the Ashes back in 2013 after a string of poor results by their national team. Arthur was having an uneasy relationship with some of the Australian players, something that was highlighted in the infamous Homeworkgate episode on the tour of India in 2012-13.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), however, chose to overlook that part of Arthur’s resume when it highlighted the coach’s achievements in a media release issued to announce the appointment.
The Board, which revealed that Arthur will join the national team in Pakistan later this month, talked about the fact that Arthur played 110 first-class matches in South Africa and during his stint as national coach the Proteas rose to number one across all three formats. The statement also highlighted the fact that Arthur’s credentials include a level-4 coaching certificate and that he has held several heading coaching positions: Karachi Kings (2016), Dhaka Gladiators (2015) and Jamaica Tallawahs (2014). He coached South Africa from 2005 to 2010, and Australia from 2011 to 2013.
“Following Waqar Younis’ resignation as Head Coach last month, the PCB embarked upon a transparent process of inviting applications from potential candidates for the position of Head Coach,” the Board said.
“A panel was appointed comprising Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, and Faisal Mirza to make recommendations to the PCB. The panel received and reviewed applications forwarded four recommendations to the PCB for it to make a final decision.
“Following detailed consultations on this matter at the last Board of Governors’ meeting and further telephone consultations by the PCB Chairman with BOG members, discussions with Mickey Arthur were initiated and he has confirmed his acceptance of the post of Head Coach of the Pakistan National Cricket team,” it said.
“The modalities vis-à-vis his contract are being finalised. It is expected that Mickey Arthur will be able to join the PCB toward the end of this month.”
However, there was no mention of the fact that Arthur was hardly Pakistan’s first choice as he was only offered the position after several others including former England coach Peter Moores and Australian Stuart Law turned down the job.
Arthur has tasted success and failure in equal measure as an international coach. He was highly successful with South Africa, helping them to their first series win in England in over 40 years, in 2008, and their maiden series victory in Australia in 2008-09, and leading them to the No. 1 ranking in Tests before resigning following a breakdown in his relationship with their captain Graeme Smith.
Australia won 10 of their 19 Tests under Arthur, but the team had an uneasy relationship with him, culminating in the infamous Homeworkgate episode on the tour of India in 2012-13. After Australia failed to win a single match at the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, he was sacked from the role less than three weeks before the 2013 Ashes series in England.
One of the senior Australia players, Brad Haddin, later alleged that Arthur was “very, very insecure” as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team.
On his part, Arthur defended himself and even decided to sue Cricket Australia over the “totally unfair basis” for his sacking.
Since getting axed by Australia, Arthur has coached a number of franchise sides including Jamaica Tallawahs, Dhaka Dynamites and most recently Karachi Kings during the inaugural Pakistan Super League in 2016.