Mickey Arthur Poised To Be Named Pakistan Team Director

Updated - 31 Jan 2023, 12:04 PM

Mickey Arthur (PC-Getty)

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Mickey Arthur and the Pakistan Cricket Board are close to reaching an agreement that will see Arthur return to the Pakistan men’s squad as team director rather than head coach, as originally stated. Three weeks ago, the PCB declared that it was pushing forward in its hunt for a candidate for departing Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq.

The two parties had been unable to reach a consensus on how such a job might function, owing to Arthur’s long-term contract with Derbyshire, which he does not wish to abandon. However, Najam Sethi, the interim chairman of the PCB, confirmed last week that he was still looking for Arthur. According to ESPNcricinfo, an agreement is nearing completion, with Arthur possibly taking over as team director on April 1.

Mickey Arthur Won’t Be Available During English County Season

That position, in which Arthur will be a consultant instead of head coach, will result in an unorthodox management system – at least at the international level – in which he will not be with the Pakistan squad on every tour but would be assisted by a chosen group of support personnel.

Former Pakistan fielding coach – and one-time head of their High-Performance Centre – Grant Bradburn is set to lead the support staff as a high-powered assistant coach. There will also be three batting, bowling, and fielding instructors, but no typical head coach.

During the English county season, Mickey Arthur will not be involved with the squad; Pakistan, for example, will tour Sri Lanka in July and will host the Asia Cup in September. After the county season, Arthur is anticipated to remain with the team for high-profile events such as the ODI World Cup in India in October-November this year and the Test tour of Australia later in the winter. The term of such a contract is still being worked out, but both parties feel Pakistan’s calendar allows for such an agreement to work.

Rehan Ul-Haq, the general manager of PSL club Islamabad United and a popular TV pundit, is likely to be one of Arthur’s more fascinating choices. On paper, he is supposed to be the team manager, although his responsibilities are far broader than the more typical administrative roles of managers.

The job may be more analogous to that of Arthur’s chief of staff, fostering the team atmosphere – Rehan is also one of the guys credited with developing the data-driven strategy at Islamabad United, two-time PSL champions.

Mickey Arthur To Reconnect With Babar Azam

Between 2016 and 2019, Arthur was the head coach of Pakistan, a largely successful white-ball stint that includes a Champions Trophy victory in 2017 and the development of their limited-overs teams. After falling behind other Full Members following a dismal showing at the 2016 T20 World Cup, Arthur helped turn around a T20 team led by Sarfaraz Ahmed and propel them to the top of the ICC rankings.

There were also remarkable Test outcomes, however, the red-ball side proved more challenging to change. After a massive early setback in the 2019 World Cup, Pakistan just missed out on making the final four, and Arthur was quickly replaced by Misbah-ul-Haq.

More importantly, Mickey Arthur’s return will reconnect him with a number of players whose development he was instrumental in during his previous term, including captain Babar Azam. Arthur stuck with Babar through his difficult Test debut and supervised his white-ball ascension.

Others, like Sarfaraz Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, and Shadab Khan, have already remarked about Arthur’s influence on their careers. After leaving Pakistan, Arthur worked for Sri Lanka before joining Derbyshire.

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