Mickey Arthur Has Declined The Offer To Come Back As The Coach Of Pakistan

Mickey Arthur has turned down an offer from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take over as head coach of the national side. As a result, the PCB will have to keep looking for someone to fill the position currently held by Saqlain Mushtaq.

The Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Tuesday that it was in talks with Arthur for a fresh spell as head coach. However, the South African won’t be able to immediately take up the post because he is currently under contract with Derbyshire for an extended period of time.

“Due to his long-term contract with Derbyshire, we have also explored a proposal to act as a consultant to the PCB on a time-sharing basis with Derbyshire,” the PCB said in a statement. “We have also considered a proposal to act as a consultant to the PCB on a time-sharing basis with Derbyshire.”

“Unfortunately, on the other hand, this choice is proving to be challenging to put into action for a variety of reasons on both sides.

“Under the current conditions, the PCB will continue its search for the best individual to fit the slot of the national team head coach, and several top names are already being taken into account,”

According to an extremely well-placed source in the board, Arthur would not be coming because of the untrustworthy climate in Pakistan cricket, which is something that he has experienced in the past. This information was provided to PTI by the board.

“The truth is when the PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi opened talks with him and told him to rejoin as the head coach, Arthur said while he would very much like to work in Pakistan cricket again, he had not had pleasant experiences in the past with the board,” the source said. “The truth is when the PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi opened talks with him and told him to rejoin as the head coach, Arthur said while he would very much like to work in Pakistan cricket again

“Arthur disclosed to Sethi that the PCB management, which will be led by Ehsan Mani during the World Cup in 2019, had given him the assurance that his contract would be extended.

However, his contract was not honoured because Pakistan was eliminated before reaching the semifinals despite winning their previous four matches in a row.

“Secondly Arthur also had apprehensions that even if he ended his long term contract with Derbyshire with mutual agreement and decided to come to Pakistan, there was no guarantee his contract would be honoured given the environment in Pakistan cricket,” the author writes. “Arthur’s concerns stemmed from the fact that there is no guarantee that his contract will be honoured in Pakistan.”

However, according to the source, Arthur disclosed to Sethi that he would be open to serving as a consultant for the Pakistan board and would also frequently travel throughout the nation.

“However, in the end, this consultancy arrangement did not work out to the PCB’s liking, which resulted in talks breaking down, and Mickey would no longer be connected with Pakistan cricket.”

Arthur was hired as the head coach in the year 2016 when Sethi was still serving on the board. He remained in that role until the year 2019, when the management led by Ehsan Mani decided not to extend his contract.

According to another credible source, the contracts or tenures of the present head coach Mushtaq and bowling coach Shaun Tait, as well as the interim selection committee led by Shahid Afridi, would terminate on Friday following the third one-day international match against New Zealand.

Since Pakistan does not have any international commitments between now and April, Sethi has two months to complete the process of selecting a new team management and selection committee for the Pakistan team.

The source said that Sethi was negotiating a long-term contract with two foreign coaches, and it was determined that a foreign coach would only be employed for the national team at this time.