Mickey Arthur takes a brutal dig at PCB over lifeless pitches in Pakistan

Former Pakistan cricket team head coach Mickey Arthur took a dig at Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for preparing a lifeless pitch in their country. The former South African cricketer while praising the pitches for ongoing India vs England and Australia vs West Indies made the comments. 

Mickey Arthur while taking to his Twitter account on Friday (26th January) admitted that Test cricket gets exciting to watch when something happens. He believes that games get interesting when surfaces favor bowlers more than batters. While taking a jibe at PCB, he said: 

“Test cricket gets so exciting to watch when you have pitches which slightly favours the bowlers instead of just flat lifeless ones!” 

Test cricket gets so exciting to watch when you have pitches which slightly favours the bowlers instead of just flat lifeless ones!#INDvsENG #AUSvWI

— Mickey Arthur (@Mickeyarthurcr1) January 26, 2024

The ongoing Test matches between India and England and Australia and West Indies have been nothing short of exceptional. Both the games have kept the fans engaged and have given immense entertainment to fans despite just the two days being played. 

In India vs England, the visitors won the toss and were bundled out for 246 runs. India on the other hand has batted well, taking the lead of 150 runs. But the Ben Stokes-led have chipped in with wickets at regular intervals. The pitch is favoring both batters and bowlers and it’s fair to say that game is heading towards an exciting finish. 

On the other hand, Australia vs West Indies has doubled up the entertainment. The pink-ball Test saw visitors piling up a decent total of 311 runs. With the ball, they put the hosts under pressure and left then tottering at 54/5. A recovery by Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins saw them piling up 289 runs in response. 

Coming to the pitches in Pakistan, the PCB of late has produced dreadful pitches. They have been absolute roads and it has seen the governing body receive a lot of flake for it. When England toured last year there, the batters had a sensational outing, adding 657 runs whereas the hosts also mustered 579 runs. 

For bowlers, there was nothing and they had to put in hard yards to make the breakthrough. A similar story unfolded when Australia toured Pakistan. Both the teams added big totals on the board and the bowlers couldn’t make any impact in the series. During the Rawalpindi Test, only 14 wickets fell, which speaks volumes about the pitches. 

Mickey Arthur resigns from Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy 

Mickey Arthur recently gave his resignation from the post at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He was given a new role after the ICC World Cup 2023, where Pakistan had a horrible outing. He was director of the team in the tournament but following the debacle in India, he was removed from the post. 

Mickey Arthur was then assigned a role in the National Cricket Academy. But after a few months, he along with Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick resigned from their respective posts. PCB released an official statement about the same and stated: 

“All three individuals informed the Pakistan Cricket Board of their decision to leave their respective jobs by the end of January 2024,” the PCB said in a release. The decision was taken amicably between all the stakeholders.” 

Mickey Arthur is now continuing in his role as Derbyshire’s head coach. He continued working in England despite his duties with the Pakistan team.