Former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur to be appointed as ‘team director’

On Monday, Pakistan Cricket Board had announced that they would hire former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur as ‘team director’ rather than the head coach. It was also revealed that the position of the head coach would be scrapped and instead the team will have three assistant coaches, each one dedicated for batting, bowling and fielding.

Mickey Arthur will oversee all three departments and will accompany the Pakistan cricket team during the ODI World Cup 2023 and Australia tour however he would wont be available to coach Pakistan cricket team full time as he will be working as a coach with the English county team Derbyshire.

After the news broke, many former cricketers voiced their opposition to the decision and called it ‘not workable in the long run’ as coaching is full time job.

Former Skipper and all-rounder Shahid Afridi who was recently appointed as the interim chief selector also opposed the decision and said, “There are better coaches available within Pakistan. The PCB must hire one of the home-grown coaches.”

Former bowler Aqib Javed also didn’t find this decision to be favourable one. He believes that a coach ‘must devote full time to help the team get better results.’

Mickey Arthur had previously been Pakistan’s head coach between 2016 to 2019. During his coaching tenure, Pakistan was able to get some significant wins under their belt which includes the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.