The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Mickey Arthur as the new head coach for the national team, following the resignation of Waqar Younis in April.
According to the PCB website, a panel comprising of former players like Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, and Faisal Mirza received and reviewed applications, and also forwarded four recommendations to the board to make a final decision on the position. After further discussions, 47-year-old Arthur on Friday accepted to coach Pakistan.
The South African cricketer had coached his national team for five years from 2005 to 2010 and was then appointed as the coach of the Australian cricket team. He was sacked in 2013 before the Ashes series and was replaced by Darren Lehmann. He coached the Karachi Kings in the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
Many former cricketers like Peter Moores and Stuart Law had turned down the offer due to various reasons.
Arthur is expected to join the Pakistan role by the end of the month. As a coach, Arthur had led the South African national team to world number one ranking in all formats of the game.
The 47-year-old also helped in the development and implementation of a national high-performance framework for the South African team.
It could be great for Pakistan cricket if Arthur can replicate the success he had with the Proteas. Recently, Shahid Afridi had complained about the lack of grassroots talent coming up in Pakistan. A similar development system to South Africa’s could help the Pakistan side in growing as a much more competitive side in all three formats.
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