Mickey Arthur's legacy as Head Coach of Pakistan - How will he be remembered?

[MenInG]

Ehsan Mani:

On behalf of the PCB, I want to sincerely thank Mickey Arthur, Grant Flower, Grant Luden and Azhar Mahmood for their hard work and unwavering commitment during their tenures with the national men’s team. We wish them every success in their future endeavors.

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How will Mickey Arthur be remembered as coach for Pakistan?

Should he have been given a 2 year extension as he asked?

 

[Abdul]

As a con man.

 

[Slog]

Money minded Con artist who leeched off PCB

 

[Last Monetarist]

As the incompetent coach who presided over test series defeats in the UAE to Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Defined his job very narrowly. Did his sincere best within that narrow scope but could not deliver good results. Had a fair run so can't complain. Time for change.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Brought Pakistan out of the 90s into the modern era and for developing potentially Pakistan's greatest batsman.

Introduced discipline, made fitness tests essential, accountability which all trickled down to the lower levels. He has taught Pakistan a lot on how a professional sports team operates.

Thank you, Mickey. Forever grateful.

 

[Markhor]

The 2017 Champions Trophy is the high point. He has undoubtedly improved the one day sides - we are now scoring 300+ far more regularly than before.

He also has introduced basic fitness standards and although there's still one or two outliers, the team is fitter than previous eras.

 

[Mueez]

“We are a proud team and we hate losing.”

 

[Ahmed_99]

Although he was responsible for some mistakes made, I think he'll always be remembered very fondly for that champions trophy win. Not many previous Pakistan coaches can claim to have won something that big. On top of that he did try and change the fitness culture in Pakistan which is necessary in this era of cricket. Mickey also deserves a bit of credit for the development of Babar over the years. I'm happy that he really gave confidence to him and supported him even while he had his initial struggles in Tests.

Overall I think we will be grateful down the line for the contributions he made and now hopefully the next coach under this new management can build on some of the positives and take Pakistan to the next level.

 

[Tintin_FTW]

In about 12 months probably very well when Pakistan's results inevitably don't improve with the new coach.

 

[GreenKhan]

I think Mickey did a good job.

Contributed to Paksitan reaching the peak in test cricket, and we had a well oiled test team who played on its strengths upto when Misbah was captain. The test team has nose dived since but we still managed a 1-1 series draw last year in England.

The one day team has improved. Its a young team, and a few good players have emerged from his reign. The CT was the peak, but there were massive blips as well especially in Bilateeral series. Our World cup campaign was respectable.

The T20 team is ranked number 1 and we have beaten most teams put in front of us.

With Waseem khan at the helm we are expecting an overhaul, but there are somethings in Pakistan that will always remain whoever is captain or coach

1) Dubious selections ( mainly seniors).
2) Inconsistency
3) Unnecessary exaggerated criticism from ex players.

Overall Micky has brough frehsness to the team, improved standards and brought some success. So well done to him and good luck for the future.

 

[Slim]

Those saying bad words about Mickey should have some shame. This guy brought Pakistan out of the 1990s mindset, and was responsible for our team's improvement in the LOI format which was in ruins under Waqar, and Misbah.

A lot to be desired from his test performance though.

He had a fairly decent run, and he would be imo the second best coach after Bobbie Wolmer.

 

[Slim]

I personally feel Mickey lost his touch in his last year and especially after Rixon's departure who imo was an important pillar. Thats why i criticized Mickey for his acting and lack of coaching in his last year. I dont have memory of a goldfish though and i remember the good things too.

 

[Hasan123]

Someone who helped Babar Azam development. I will put my mortgage on it that had we had a local coach at the start of Babar career, they would have batted him down the order. Waqar was putting him at 5/6 when he starts so imagine someone else without his international experience would have done. Also his love for bits and pieces cricketers will be remembered.

His passion on the balcony and helping us win the CT will be remembered. Thanks for the work Mickey. Hope you get a decent role somewhere else.

 

[Mueez]

On a serious note.

Mickey has helped us a lot in our batting mindset and we have seen good results too.

He drew twice Test series against England, won the CT and became number one ranked T20 side.

He has developed Babar in to a gunbatsman.

Shaheen Shah Afridi came to the scene during his regime.

Well done Mickey.

Wish you good luck!

 

[topspin]

As a con man.

Before calling Mickey a con man, I would suggest looking in the mirror since you've been shamelessly bashing Pakistan's best batsman from day one. But I'm not surprised as you have an appetite for mediocrity, as evident for how you've been rooting for a mediocre batsman like Misbah.

 

[Jabo]

Did a decent job

way better than the con artist Waqar

 

[Slim]

Before calling Mickey a con man, I would suggest looking in the mirror since you've been shamelessly bashing Pakistan's best batsman from day one. But I'm not surprised as you have an appetite for mediocrity, as evident for how you've been rooting for a mediocre batsman like Misbah.

The real con man if there was any was Waqar Younis who ironically is the favorite of these certain posters.

 

[Markhor]

Unsurprising to see fans of Waqar Younis AKA the Pep Guardiola of cricket celebrating this.

A reminder that your hero was unceremonially sacked not once but twice.

 

[topspin]

The real con man if there was any was Waqar Younis who ironically is the favorite of these certain posters.

Ah yes how can I forget!

 

[Titan24]

While he brought in modern day concepts to Pak cricket however in terms of cricketing achievements there is nothing to be remembered of his tenure.

Pak won 1992 WC and T20 WC 2009 under Intikhab Alam dont remember many people talking about him so I doubt anybody will remember Mickey just bcz of CT17.

 

[Major]

someone who had no hope for Pakistan and no idea how to play cricket according to the conditions.

The guy had his faults. He was liked by Pakistanis because he got angry on camera, and we like such personalities, but he was not a proper cricket coach, and i have my reasons to say that.

Mickey arthur comes from Australia, and like all Australia he thinks that a team cannto play 2 fast bowlers and 2 spinners, hence this guy played wrong kind of bowlers in test cricket for which we lost. He should had played Shadab and Asghar together, or atleast Yasir with Asghar. Playing 1 full time and 1 part timer iin UAE is a joke.

Then the champions trophy. I remmber on Pakpassion, someone met Mickey at the champions trophy and he asked from Mickey that what were the chances of us winning the tournament. And the guy told that mickey just smiled or laughed it off. THat shows that this guy had no belief in the team.
We got away with our champions trophy performance. If you analyze it, it was a terrible performance, we almost gave away the Sri Lanka game.

Also Mickeys team selection was from PSL, this again was ridiculous

Then when the world cup came near, he had no idea who to select. THe bowlers who had played during hte whole year, Junaid and Usman, they were dropped.
Asif Ali being selected was a joke aswell.

Even after coaching the team for 2 years, Mickey had no idea who to select and was confuse. THat shoows how bad this guy was.

 

[lahoriyah1234]

His Emotions and his great Acting skills.

 

[Abdullah]

I'm sad hes gone.
Was doing a good job. Made some errors but he did well for us overall

 

[Boi]

Tactics were pretty poor but respect to him for trying to change the culture of the side and give fitness importance.

 

[Markhor]

someone who had no hope for Pakistan and no idea how to play cricket according to the conditions.

The guy had his faults. He was liked by Pakistanis because he got angry on camera, and we like such personalities, but he was not a proper cricket coach, and i have my reasons to say that.

Mickey arthur comes from Australia, and like all Australia he thinks that a team cannto play 2 fast bowlers and 2 spinners, hence this guy played wrong kind of bowlers in test cricket for which we lost. He should had played Shadab and Asghar together, or atleast Yasir with Asghar. Playing 1 full time and 1 part timer iin UAE is a joke.

Then the champions trophy. I remmber on Pakpassion, someone met Mickey at the champions trophy and he asked from Mickey that what were the chances of us winning the tournament. And the guy told that mickey just smiled or laughed it off. THat shows that this guy had no belief in the team.
We got away with our champions trophy performance. If you analyze it, it was a terrible performance, we almost gave away the Sri Lanka game.

Also Mickeys team selection was from PSL, this again was ridiculous

Then when the world cup came near, he had no idea who to select. THe bowlers who had played during hte whole year, Junaid and Usman, they were dropped.
Asif Ali being selected was a joke aswell.

Even after coaching the team for 2 years, Mickey had no idea who to select and was confuse. THat shoows how bad this guy was.

The reason we lost those UAE series is nothing to do with not playing this spinner or that spinner. It's all down to the senior trio of Sarfraz Ahmed, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq BOTTLING two close chases in Abu Dhabi. Where was their precious experience when we needed them to take responsibility ?

We can look at every coach in the world and nitpick decisions, and I'm not saying Mickey was free from mistakes, but we need to analyse the OVERALL record.

Mickey Arthur in ODIs inherited a team tottering in 9th and struggling to qualify for the World Cup. We ended up 5th in WC only missing out on SF qualification via NRR. He won Pakistan an ICC 50 over trophy for first time since 1992 against all odds. His ODI W/L ratio is superior to Waqar's (0.735 vs 0.347). The number of 300+ scores increased from 2 under Waqar to 14 under Mickey so we are finally batting according to modern era requirements !

In T20s we crashed out of the group stages of the 2016 WT20 under Waqar Guardiola and were ranked 7th. We are now 1st and a strong contender for the next WT20.

Yes in Tests it's a mixed bag but he had a pathetic captain in Sarfraz to work with as well as an awful domestic system that fails to produce international standard batsmen. Not to mention several tough overseas tours which Waqar dodged. However we still drew twice with England away, beat Australia and won in Caribbean for first time.

Fitness standards have significantly improved as has ground fielding (catching deteriorated though since Rixon's departure). He developed youngsters like Babar, Shaheen, Imam, Shadab and others, and kicked out prima donnas like Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad. He was the best coach since Bob Woolmer.

 

[topspin]

One of Pakistan's two best coaches (alongside with Bob Woolmer). He will be sorely missed because we don't have top class coaches waiting on the wings to take over from him, as they would not deem the opportunity to coach Pakistan even remotely prestigious enough to move over to Pakistan and subsequently add to their CVs.

The Waqar/Misbah combo dumped a mess when they had left the side, but Mickey ensured their blunders were cleaned up as per the following:

1. More preference for youth
2. Adopting a modern approach to batting
3. Allowing his best players to bat higher up in the order, rather than converting them to sloggers.
4. Enforced a strong culture of fitness and fielding

Misbah and Mickey's predecessor had an approach which was contrary to the above. They had an appetite for seniors, preferred an outdated approach to batting in ODIs, Babar Azam was shifted to bat at six and unfit players like Sohail Khan et al were persisted with until he got booted out by Mickey.

For those who are adamant that Mickey's Pakistan side fluked their way to the CT ought to be reminded you still have to be at least competitive to stand a chance of winning the trophy. I also have issues with terming it a fluke because it is technically incorrect. It wasn't as if Pakistan got lucky wickets and scored lucky runs. Furthermore, the best batsman and bowler in the tournament were both from the Pakistan team; Fakhar and Hasan Ali respectively.

Now in contrast compare this performance with what Misbah/Waqar accomplished in the 2013 CT with a 100% loss record. Mickey's Pakistan in the 2019 WC were also a lot more competitive than Waqar's Pakistan side in the 2015 and things could have been different if there no wash outs.

Mickey's biggest struggle was the side's red ball showing in UAE and he does some of the blame for picking just one spinner in the SL series. I say some because Sarfraz as captain should have known better and there was no spin coach to assist him on this matter. But with all things considered, it was always going to be difficult to maintain the unbeaten run primarily because of the loss of Younis khan, who was undoubtedly an ATG batsman against spin who carry this side alone. He provided a platform for support players to utilise the pressure that he was able to exert on the oppositions' spinners with ease.

We have seen multiple coaches and captains do more harm for Pakistan cricket over the past 20 years of my cricket viewing lifetime but we should cherish Mickey's presence in the last three years for giving his full commitment and the developments he made to Pakistan cricket when their ODI team was in dire straits.

 

[topspin]

someone who had no hope for Pakistan and no idea how to play cricket according to the conditions.

The guy had his faults. He was liked by Pakistanis because he got angry on camera, and we like such personalities, but he was not a proper cricket coach, and i have my reasons to say that.

Mickey arthur comes from Australia, and like all Australia he thinks that a team cannto play 2 fast bowlers and 2 spinners, hence this guy played wrong kind of bowlers in test cricket for which we lost. He should had played Shadab and Asghar together, or atleast Yasir with Asghar. Playing 1 full time and 1 part timer iin UAE is a joke.

Then the champions trophy. I remmber on Pakpassion, someone met Mickey at the champions trophy and he asked from Mickey that what were the chances of us winning the tournament. And the guy told that mickey just smiled or laughed it off. THat shows that this guy had no belief in the team.
We got away with our champions trophy performance. If you analyze it, it was a terrible performance, we almost gave away the Sri Lanka game.

Also Mickeys team selection was from PSL, this again was ridiculous

Then when the world cup came near, he had no idea who to select. THe bowlers who had played during hte whole year, Junaid and Usman, they were dropped.
Asif Ali being selected was a joke aswell.

Even after coaching the team for 2 years, Mickey had no idea who to select and was confuse. THat shoows how bad this guy was.

The motive for the way you're portraying Mickey is because he was actually able to clean up the mess (associated with ODIs), he inherited from your beloved Misbah and subsequently exposed his incompetence. Don't pretend otherwise.

As you brought up the CT, let me remind you of how hopeless Misbah was (along with Waqar) in that competition. Both of the last two tournaments were held in England but the outcomes of both were polar opposites. Misbah's team in the 2013 CT lost all three games, whilst Mickey Arthur delivered the cup, yet you have the nerve to downplay his accomplishments out of envy.

Also consider the difference between Pakistan's showing under Misbah in the 2015 WC and the recent WC.

In tests Misbah would have had a similar record to the Sarfraz/Mickey combo if he didn't have Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal's chucking.

This was a pathetic attempt to belittle Mickey with your Misbah hat on and you will always be exposed for the pattern of your nonsensical posts.

 

[topspin]

While he brought in modern day concepts to Pak cricket however in terms of cricketing achievements there is nothing to be remembered of his tenure.

Pak won 1992 WC and T20 WC 2009 under Intikhab Alam dont remember many people talking about him so I doubt anybody will remember Mickey just bcz of CT17.

Lol because Inti's role was peripheral. Imran Khan and Younis Khan were calling the shots in those respective tournaments.

If I'm not mistaken you were vouching for Mohsin Khan to take over - like seriously?!

 

[The_Odd_One]

He will be remembered for the CT win. There is no other accomplishment worth mentioning.

 

[asfandyar]

Better than the ones we had before him.

 

[MenInG]

Seems that Mickey being remembered today ....

 

[Energy]

One thing is for sure, the two clowns wouldn't have nosed their way in if Mickey was the coach.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Brought us out of the dumps in white ball cricket and changed the fitness culture of Pakistan. Helped guide Pakistan's greatest batting talent.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Left a mediocre team in shorter formats, made #1 test team minnows.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Mediocre in white ball cricket, rubbish in tests.

 

[Saj]

Come back Mickey, all is forgiven

 

[j_kazmi]

Come back Mickey, all is forgiven

Are you not a fan of Misbah’s coaching?

I’m willing to give him a chance but his lack of experience and questionable selections are not inspiring confidence in me.

 

[OmaIR1]

Remembered for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017

 

[Mueez]

Mickey had his moments and will be remembered for CT17.

Atleast he had the guts to drop Akmal’s and Shehzad’s.

 

[Stewie]

I am missing dear old Mickey, already. He was the best thing that happened to us since Woolmer. Misbah is going to ruin our team.. just watch!