Lahore, May 6 (IANS) The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday that former South Africa and Australia coach Mickey Arthur has been appointed head coach of the national cricket team.
Arthur will occupy the post left vacant by Waqar Younis who stepped down following a disastrous campaign at the World Twenty20 in India.
Following Younis' resignation last month, the PCB formed a panel comprising Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja and Faisal Mirza to look into the process of appointing a new coach. The panel received and reviewed applications and forwarded four recommendations to the PCB for a final decision.
"Following detailed consultations on this matter at the last Board Of Governors' (BOG) meeting and further telephone consultations by the PCB Chairman with BOG members, discussions with Mickey Arthur were initiated and he has confirmed his acceptance of the post of head coach of the Pakistan national cricket team," the PCB said in a statement on Friday.
"The modalities vis-à-vis his contract are being finalised. It is expected that Mickey Arthur will be able to join the PCB toward the end of this month."
Arthur was selected from a list of several candidates which included the Australian duo of Stuart Law and Dean Jones, and Andy Moles of England.
Law, who was reportedly the frontrunner to take the job, ruled himself out on Thursday. Earlier, former England coach Peter Moores had also turned down an opportunity to succeed Waqar. Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed, who was also approached by the PCB, had also ruled himself out, preferring instead to stick to his current coaching assignment with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The 47-year-old Arthur had a successful stint as the head coach of South Africa where he developed and led the implementation of a national high performance coaching framework for the national team leading to the rise of several talented players.
When Arthur took over the reigns of the South Africa team in 2005, they were placed third in the Test rankings and were sixth in the one-day format. He guided the Proteas to the top spot in both formats within four years, the high point coming in 2008 when they scored Test series wins in India, England and Australia.
He was appointed head coach of the Australian National Cricket Team from 2011-2013 after their home Ashes defeat in 2010-11. Despite winning 10 of his 19 Tests in charge, he did not enjoy cordial relationships with several players and was replaced by Darren Lehmann in 2013.
He has since then coached Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in 2014, the Dhaka gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League last year and the Karachi Kings in the first edition of the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
Arthur has also coached domestic sides in South Africa, with Eastern Cape, and Australia, where he coached Western Australia.
He played 110 first class games as a batsman in South Africa and won 13 consecutive ODIs, equalling Australia's world record and served on the International Cricket Council's cricket committee from 2008-2010.
