Stags release T20 coach Arthur
The Central Stags have released Twenty20 coach Mickey Arthur from his summer contract ahead of his impending appointment as Sri Lanka’s next head coach.
Arthur was only confirmed as the Stags coach for the upcoming T20 Super Smash in September after he was let go by Pakistan following their failure to reach the Cricket World Cup semifinals in July.
The 51-year-old South African has coached his homeland (2005-10), Australia (2010-13) and Pakistan (2016-19) and looks set for a fourth different job as an international head coach with Sri Lanka.
Espncricinfo reports that Arthur will soon be confirmed as the replacement for Chandika Hathrusingha and his release from the Stags, who start the defence of their Super Smash title on December 13, indicates an announcement is imminent.
The Stags yesterday confirmed Arthur’s release while announcing the appointment of former Black Caps wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi as an assistant coach for T20s, with Aldin Smith continuing as head coach, his role in their Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy campaigns.
Arthur was only contracted for the 2019-20 season but requested a release, the Stags said in a statement.
‘‘Mickey is a great cricket coach, and a top guy, and I wish him well in his next assignment,’’ Central Districts chief executive Pete de Wet said.
‘‘We are obviously disappointed that Mickey requested a release from his contract as he would have brought his extensive experience and energy to our campaign – something that we were really looking forward to.
‘‘However, we are confident that Aldin is well placed to add the T20 campaign to his current scope as interim Stags coach for this season, and we are excited to announce that Luke Ronchi is joining him on the coaching staff as assistant coach to contribute his specialist expertise to our Super Smash campaign specifically.
‘‘Luke brings with him an absolute wealth of experience in the T20 format both as a respected international player and coach, and is excited to be linking up with the Stags for the imminent trophy defence.’’
The Stags are reigning T20 champions and begin their defence against last season’s beaten finalists, the Knights, in Napier on December 13, but will do so without Arthur.
Under his watch, South Africa achieved a No 1 world test ranking and beat England in a series for the first time in four decades, as well as achieving their maiden series victory in Australia.
In T20 cricket he has coached the CPL’S Jamaica Tallawahs, the Bangladesh Premier League’s Dhaka Dynamites and Pakistan Super League’s Karachi Kings.
As a player, Arthur chalked up 110 first-class matches and 150 List A one-day matches in a South African domestic career from 1986 to 2000.
Auckland Rugby has employed the services of a data company to ensure no kids are excluded because of their size or weight, following an ugly incident across the Tasman.
Recently an 11-year-old boy in Sydney was told he was ‘‘too big to play’’ and sent home, in tears, from a local sevens tournament.
The news made headlines across Australia and New Zealand, with many commenters online calling the treatment of the young boy ‘‘unfair’’ and ‘‘far too common’’.
It’s an issue in New Zealand too – a young west Auckland boy was allegedly similarly discriminated against and abused for his size this year at an under-10s match. The boy’s mother, who did not want to be named, said it had happened before and her son had contemplated giving the game away as a result. She did not lay any official complaints.
Last year, in the 13-man code, a story of sideline abuse of a nineyear old boy in Auckland was reported by Stuff. Parents heckled young Manase Uhi, who at the time was 1.70m tall and weighed over 110 kilograms, and