A welcome change in Cricket SA

With coach Micky Arthur goes the entire selection panel of Cricket SA. Controversial, yet this is what CSA badly needed. With almost every selection, be it playing XI or the squad, 0ne could hear the murmurs, sense dissatisfaction and controversies.

Micky Arthur came as a surprise choice being selected as the coach of the national cricket team SA in 2005. Those who knew the game did not exactly welcome him as a replacement for Ray Jennings . Micky Arthur proved them wrong with a series of successful results.

A friend argues, ” MickyArthur lead the team through a series of 9 undefeated test series and a series of successful one-day results. This streak included wins against India, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh at home and away wins against England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and a credible draw in India. In 2008, Micky Arthur became the first South African coach to guide his team to a test series win in Australia. The team backed up this performance by winning the resulting One-Day International series against the odds. This unexpected 4-1 win ment that they regained the No.1 ranking in the One-Day International rankings.”

My take : Sure, the record is impressive. But I still think the statistics do not reflect the true picture. Some frames are still missing.With the talent that SA has at its disposal you actually expect these results form SA and probably much more.

Although statistics might suggest otherwise, he did not impress one and all with his man management skills. He certainly did not win me as his fan.

To begin with, he had confrontations with the board almost regularly, be it a selection meeting or board policies. He failed to nurture tremendous talents. Gibbs, Morkel, Botha, Prince and now even Duminy appears to be on the same path. The list might go on. These players sure have potential to respond. It is Micky Arthur who failed them, he failed to inspire them and failed to back them. There were already speculations that players were not very excited with his say in every matter and often his tactics were questionable. With him at charge of the things, a sense of insecurity developed among players and they could not express themselves freely. Often his brains appeared to be behind every Greame Smith decision. SA never had any plan B for a situation. He failed to read the game, evolve with the game. He appeared inflexible, clueless and rigid at times with his decisions and strategy. Agreed, coach needs to be an integral part of the strategy but still decisions on field should be left for captain’s discretion.One can imagine his say in every matter as with him the entire SA cricket structure goes. He had some taste for demanding domination and complete control every where. That might not work every time. Arthur seemed to have run out of ideas and now Board Backing. Cricket SA needed this change. SA could have achieved greater heights. I regard SA as a team that promises a lot yet under-achieves. I hope the new coach Corrie van Zyl brings the much needed fresh approach to their game.