Mickey Arthur likely to be appointed Pakistan’s team director

MICKEY Arthur and the (Pakistan Cricket Board) PCB are nearing an agreement that will see Arthur return to the Pakistan men’s squad, albeit as team director rather than as a head coach.

Three weeks before the PCB’s announcement that it was pressing forward with its search for a successor to Saqlain Mushtaq, the departing Pakistan coach, talks between the two parties had ended. Given that Arthur had a long-term contract with Derbyshire that he did not wish to cancel, the two parties had been unable to come to an agreement on how such a post could function. But the temporary chairman of the PCB, Najam Sethi, said last week that he was still looking for Arthur.

A deal will soon be finalised, and Arthur might take over as team director on April 1 as per ESPNcricinfo.

This title, one in which Arthur will serve as a consultant rather than the team’s head coach, will result in an unorthodox management system, at least on a global scale, in which he won’t go with Pakistan’s team on every outing but will instead delegate responsibility for running things to a hand-selected group of support personnel.

Grant Bradburn, a former Pakistani fielding coach and former director of their HighPerformance Center, is slated to serve as the team’s top assistant coach and serve as a leader among the support personnel. There won’t be a typical head coach, but there will be three coaches for batting, bowling, and fielding.

Arthur will not be deeply participating with the team during the English county season Pakistan, for instance, will tour Sri Lanka in July and will host the Asia Cup in September.

However, following the conclusion of the county season, Arthur is anticipated to travel with the team for important events like the ODI World Cup in India in October-November of this year and the Test tour of Australia later in the winter.