PCB shows Mickey Arthur and coaching staff the door

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided not to retain Head Coach Mickey Arthur and his coaching staff which included Azhar Mahmood, Grant Flower and trainder Grant Luden.

According to the AFP, Arthur’s contract with the PCB expired. Arthur had requested for a two-year extension of his contract but the management of the board decided against it.

The decision has been taken after Pakistan failed to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-finals. Although Pakistan beat impressive teams such as New Zealand, England, South Africa and opponents Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the team lost out on the run-rate to take an early flight home.

The PCB claimed that it would hire another coaching staff to ensure that the team improved further.

“PCB will be immediately undertaking a robust recruitment process after it decided not to renew the contracts of head coach Arthur, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, batting coach Grant Flower and trainer Grant Luden,” said the board in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mickey Arthur said that he was ‘extremely hurt and disappointed’ after learning that his contract had not been extended. Arthur said that he had given his 100 percent to uplift Pakistan cricket team.

Rumours are doing the rounds that Arthur has been shortlisted by the ECB and may start his stint as the coach of England after Trevor Bayliss departs post-Ashes.

Pakistan lost heavily to arch-rivals India at the World Cup but finished with a record of five wins from nine matches, including one game that was rained off.

They scored 11 points and were unlucky to be pipped to the semi-finals by New Zealand — who also had 11 points — on net run-rate.

The PCB committee, which includes former captains Wasim Akram and Misbah-ul-Haq and which met on Friday, was unanimous in calling for new coaches.