Mickey Arthur likely to become SL head coach

COLOMBO: Mickey Arthur is likely to become Sri Lanka’s next head coach, despite Chandika Hathurusingha not having been officially been fired yet.

Arthur has not signed a contract with Sri Lanka Cricket so far, but board officials have expressed confidence that Arthur will take up the role before Sri Lanka’s forthcoming Test tour of Pakistan, which begins on December 11. SLC has been searching for a new coach since the end of the World Cup, and had approached several high-profile names, including former England batting coach Mark Ramprakash. But they now believe Arthur is the man to take the team forward.

“We are having discussions with Mickey,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “We think we will be able to reach an agreement.” Arthur has coached South Africa and Australia in the past, but it was his results with Pakistan between 2016 and 2019 that really impressed SLC, de Silva said.

“He had won the 2017 Champions Trophy with Pakistan, and had also taken Pakistan to the No. 1 spot in T20s. He’s a well-known coach and he’s been around for a while,” he said.

Arthur was Pakistan’s coach until the end of the World Cup.During his time with Pakistan, he is understood to have struck up a good working relationship with Steve Rixon, who is also the current fielding coach in Sri Lanka’s ranks.

If Arthur comes aboard as Sri Lanka coach he will be the 11th coach of the men’s team, including interim appointments, since 2011. Both previous coaches - Graeme Ford and Hathurusingha - were put under pressure to end their tenures long before their contracts expired.