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.