Pakistan Cricket Board decides not to renew contracts of Mickey Arthur, Grant Flower and other coaching staff

Islamabad: The Pakistan Cricket Board is set to change the entire coaching staff of the national team after deciding not to renew the contracts of Mickey Arthur and Grant Flower. The major overhaul was recommended by the PCB’s cricket committee which met in Lahore last Friday and approved by board chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday. “The Pakistan Cricket Board … will be immediately undertaking a robust recruitment process after it decided not to renew the contracts of head coach Mickey Arthur, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, batting coach Grant Flower and trainer Grant Luden,” the PCB said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_6970391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mickey Arthur’s contract had expired at the end of the 2019 ICC World Cup. Reuters[/caption] The cricket committee is headed by PCB managing director Wasim Khan and also includes former Test captains Wasim Akram and Misbah-ul-Haq, who met with Arthur, former chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed before recommending change in the coaching setup. Arthur played first-class cricket in South Africa before going into coaching and taking charge of the national team from 2005-10. He became the first foreign coach of Australia’s national cricket team before being replaced by Darren Lehmann in 2013. Arthur took over as Pakistan head coach three years ago and during his tenure guided the team to the Champions Trophy title in England in 2017. However, Pakistan missed the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup last month after being edged by New Zealand on superior net run-rate through the tournament. Former Zimbabwe batsman Flower and South Africa-born Luden, who also had worked with Bangladesh team as trainer, have been working with the Pakistan team since 2014. Mahmood, a former Pakistan all-rounder, was appointed as bowling coach in 2016. “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,” Mani said. “The PCB remains committed to its fans and followers and we will do our utmost to ensure that we make decisions that continue to move Pakistan cricket forward in all formats.”