Pakistan appointed South African Mickey Arthur as head coach of their national cricket team, replacing Waqar Younis, who resigned after a disastrous World Twenty20
Karachi: Pakistan yesterday appointed South African Mickey Arthur as head coach of their national cricket team, replacing Waqar Younis, who resigned after a disastrous World Twenty20 last month.
Mickey Arthur speaks to the media at JC Smith Pavilion in Perth in 2013 when he was coach of Michael Clarke's Australian team. PIC/Getty Images
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Arthur "has confirmed his acceptance of the post of Head Coach of the Pakistan National Cricket team" after a "detailed and transparent process", the PCB said in a statement. "The modalities vis-a-vis his contract are being finalised. It is expected that Arthur will be able to join the PCB toward the end of this month," the statement continued.
Arthur, who turns 48 later this month, successfully coached his native South Africa from 2005-2010 before migrating to Australia, where he remained coach for 19 months. But he found his job in danger after Australia lost a Test series in India followed by a poor showing at the Champions Trophy in England, and was sacked just before the 2013 Ashes.
PCB express faith
Arthur's first task will be to prepare his team for their upcoming tour of England, where Pakistan play four Tests, a T20 and five ODIs. He is faced with the difficult task of lifting his players from their lowest-ever world ranking of ninth in one-day cricket. But the PCB expressed faith in their new coach, saying he has an outstanding record and led South Africa to World No 1 rankings across all formats.
But his record as Australia's first foreign coach left his CV dented as they lost to South Africa at home and were routed 4-0 in India before a win-less Champions Trophy in England in 2013. He was unceremoniously sacked two weeks before the Ashes series started in England in June 2013, with two years to run on his contract, and replaced by Darren Lehmann.
He later sued Cricket Australia for up to Aus$4 million (US3.7 million), claiming there had been a deliberate campaign against him, before reaching a confidential agreement with the governing body.
Arthur also had a stint as Karachi franchise coach in the inaugural Pakistan Super League in the United Arab Emirates last year.
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