Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur admits hunkering down at The Taj hotel in Colombo is getting “claustrophobic”. With Sri Lanka in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arthur calculates he has had more than 40 room service meals alone - as his wife and children live in Perth, Western Australia.
His only social exposure has been occasionally seeing other hotel guests – only about 10 remain - at breakfast or the gym. Nights are spent watching Netflix and he also devoured ‘The Test’ - the acclaimed documentary about the Australian men's cricket team, who Arthur coached from 2011-13.
“I’m not complaining but it is lonely,” Arthur tells me via a telephone interview. “That’s why I’ve immersed myself in the work.”
The 51-year-old is keen to use this spare time - however long it lasts - “wisely”. He’s made sure to stick to a routine while stuck at the hotel. The mornings are spent exercising at the gym and checking the situation back home in Perth before working on his business interests away from cricket leading up to lunch.
Then it’s deep diving into cricket until dinner. A cricket savant, Arthur was built for this. He meticulously studies videos of his players and opposition, analyses tactical trends and communicates with his coaching staff and players daily.
“I’ve set targets for players every week and keep them reflecting on their games and where they are at in their careers. I’m studying footage from the last three years,” Arthur says. “(The break has) allowed me to do a lot of research and look at numbers, which ordinarily you can’t do.
“The coaching group (David Saker, Shane McDermott and Grant Flower) is challenging each other every day on our WhatsApp group. I want us to be ahead of the pack, we’re trying to be proactive.”
Arthur’s disciplinarian approach manifests in better fielding and improved fitness in his teams. Sri Lanka, much like Pakistan before he took over, has struggled with professionalism both on-and-off field and Arthur, who took the reins in December, hopes to resurrect them amid a tumultuous period.
The cricket shutdown is certainly no breather for the Sri Lanka players - not under Arthur’s watch. “All the players have training programs - tailored to what they have available as some have their own gyms,” he says. “I engage with them quite a lot. I’m doing a lot of planning.”
Sri Lanka - a much-loved small cricket nation who long punched above its weight through a flamboyant style - are now bracketed with the lower rung of cricket’s top tier after several highly disappointing years.
Sri Lanka, undoubtedly, need a tonic. The hardnosed Arthur, in the short-term at least, should provide a spark. He has previously juggled high-profile and demanding roles with his native South Africa, Australia and Pakistan to various degrees of success but most enjoys rebuilding projects.
The experience he will most lean on is the freshest - coaching volatile Pakistan, which was predictably a rollercoaster ride filled with intoxicating highs and unexpectedly winning the 2017 Champions Trophy before flaming out and, inevitably ending on a bitter note.
Arthur was axed following the team’s failure to make the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup. It was not particularly surprising - the political maneuverings in Pakistani cricket could make a decent subplot in The West Wing.
“We left a legacy there - training and knowing how to prepare,” Arthur says of his three-year stint with Pakistan. “We left them with some very good young players. I was disappointed how it ended but ultimately you don’t get many foreign coaches coaching three years there.”
Unlike his humiliating demise with Australia, which was doomed after the infamous Homework-gate debacle, Arthur exited Pakistan with his pedigree intact and he was a wanted man. He was linked with the vacant England job and had discussions with ECB boss Ashley Giles, but taking the reins of Sri Lanka seems like an appropriate fit for the well-traveled Arthur.
“I felt like I had another international coaching job in me and I felt like Sri Lanka was a team that really needed help,” Arthur says. “I like the projects where you build a team and build a brand that is sustainable for a long time.
“Sri Lanka was crying out for good structure and real coaching. They have very talented players but who didn’t know what the best preparation was. It’s about embedding habits into them.”
Despite his innate optimism, Arthur has a tough challenge ahead with Sri Lanka’s depth shallow and they are jarringly short on high end talent in a far cry from their glory years which includes ODI and T20 World Cup triumphs.
He is, however, particularly bullish about 22-year-old Wanindu Hasaranga - the uncapped leg-spinning all-rounder who Arthur believes can become Sri Lanka’s talisman. “This guy is going to be unbelievable. He has all the tricks with the ball, can genuinely bat and is a gun fielder,” he says. “You can build strategies and game plans around him - he’s a three in one cricketer.”
With new toys to play around with, Arthur is excitedly scheming how to make his team better but the prolonged wait is starting to make him yearn for the nitty-gritty of coaching. He might not have to wait much longer with the Sri Lankan government’s ability to so far stem the spread of the coronavirus – the island nation has recorded about 200 cases - might lead to an easing of the strict restrictions.
“We could return to training, maybe in smaller squads, by the end of the month. That’s a goal that we are trying to achieve,” Arthur says with a hint of excitement in his voice.
And when he does return from isolation, Arthur believes he can emerge a “better” and perhaps more grounded coach. “So many times when you get on the treadmill of coaching and wish for a break…be careful what you wish for,” he chuckles. “I’m missing that day-to-day, hands-on coaching and running a team.
“I will never take it for granted again.”
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