I Am Extremely Disappointed And Hurt: Mickey Arthur

With Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)  deciding against renewing his contract, Mickey Arthur has expressed his disappointment. Along with Arthur, Pakistan has also decided to not renew the contracts of bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, batting coach Grant Flower and trainer Grant Luden. The PCB Cricket Committee unanimously recommended the change in the national side’s coaching set-up.

Pakistan had a mixed result during Arthur’s tenure. The former South Africa and Australia coach joined Pakistan in May 2016. He soon led them to a drawn Test series with England that lifted them to the top of the rankings. His greatest moment as Pakistan coach came in the following year when the Men in Green defied all the odds to win the Champions Trophy in 2017.

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But soon things went downhill for Arthur and Pakistan. They lost 2-0 to Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates in 2017 in addition to losing to New Zealand and South Africa in Test. Overall under Arthur, Pakistan won 10 out of 28 Tests, losing 17 and drawing one.

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Pakistan have also struggled in ODIs in the last two years. Under Arthur, Pakistan won 29 of 66 ODIs, losing 34 with three no-results. In the recently-concluded World Cup, they exited the tournament at the group stage.

But despite the poor results in the last one year or so, Arthur was hopeful of getting any extension. Unsurprisingly, he was disappointed when Pakistan decided against it.

“I am extremely disappointed and hurt,” Mickey Arthur told AFP shortly. “I did my wholehearted effort to lift Pakistan cricket.”

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Arthur’s contract expired after last month’s World Cup, won by hosts England, and he had asked for a two-year extension. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Arthur is on the shortlist of names for the next England coach. Current England coach Trevor Bayliss will depart following the ongoing Ashes Test series.