“80 To 90% Agreement Has Been Made” – Najam Sethi On Agreement With Mickey Arthur

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has stated that the agreement with Mickey Arthur is almost done and he is all set to return as the head coach of the Pakistan National Cricket Team.

Arthur has served as the head coach of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club since November 2021. He is set to return as head coach of Pakistan, having previously worked with the side from 2016 to 2019. During his stint as head coach, the Men In Green won the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2017.

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Meanwhile, Najam Sethi has said that they will invite Arthur to Pakistan once everything is finalised in a few days.

“I think the project has almost been completed. Today I will discuss with Haroon and we will also talk to Mickey Arthur in one or two days. Eighty to 90 per cent agreement has been made,” Sethi told reporters here at a partnership function between the PCB and Daraz, as quoted by The News.

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“When it is finalised I will invite him here so that he could see all contracts and exactly what will be his responsibilities and how things will be done and we will wrap up the process in ten to 15 days,” Sethi said.

Najam Sethi further spoke about the possibility of expanding the Pakistan Super League (PSL) to other cities. He said that expanding the league to other cities is a “hugely difficult task”.

“It was a hugely difficult task to expand the league with two production teams working,” Sethi said. 

“Multan is 300 kilometres from Lahore and the teams’ transportation and security management is no joke. I mean it has been a huge operation. There were a few hiccups yesterday but that’s to be expected,” Sethi said.

I wanted to conduct one game in Quetta but other stakeholders said that we should wait – Najam Sethi

Najam Sethi further said that they will make a “determined effort” to expand the PSL to Quetta and Peshawar.

“I have already announced that next year if the security situation is good I am going to make a determined effort to open up two more centres — Peshawar and Quetta,” Sethi said.

“In Quetta, our trial run was a huge success — beyond everybody’s expectations. I wanted to conduct one game in Quetta but other stakeholders said that we should wait. We will further spend on Bugti Stadium and make it even better,” he said.

“As far as Peshawar is concerned I will put in everything myself to get that stadium going. We could have held PSL games there had that venue been given to the PCB. Peshawar will be the winner if we get that stadium going,” Sethi said.

Also, PCB chairman Najam Sethi opened up on the Asia Cup 2023 matters. He said that the discussions about the tournament will be held at the next ACC meeting in March.

“We are going to be meeting again in March on the sidelines of the ICC meeting and these issues will be taken up again. There was no resolution in the last meeting and beyond that, I cannot say anything,” Sethi said.

Notably, at the Asian Cricket Council’s Executive Board Meeting in the first week of February in Bahrain, the officials had a “constructive dialogue” on the Asia Cup 2023. However, the decision on whether the tournament will be played in Pakistan was not made. Also, at the next month’s meeting of the ACC, the decision on the hosts and venues will be made.

Also Read: PSL 2023: Watch – Furious Mohammad Amir Throws Ball After Getting Hit For A Four By Ex-Teammate Babar Azam

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