Former Pakistan head coach, Mickey Artur is set to rejoin the Green Shirts as the newly appointed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regime finds him as the perfect fit for the national side. Mickey, who is currently under contract with English county, Derbyshire, is expected to be appointed as director of the Pakistan cricket team, rather than the head coach of the national side.
The decision to appoint him as the director of cricket is said to be made in order to accommodate the South African so that his workload will be better managed. Mickey has already communicated his preference for certain individuals in his backroom staff, including Grant Bradburn and Yasir Arafat as the assistant coaches, and Rehan-ul-Haq as the team manager.
With the PCB agreeing to the majority of Mickey’s demands, it will be interesting to see how the future of Pakistan cricket shapes up as the former head coach will have more power than ever. This could either prove to be beneficial for cricket in the country or have a major adverse impact.
Mickey’s tenures as head coach of international teams have been rather interesting, with some incredible highs and massive lows. Let’s take a deeper dive into his coaching career and the controversies surrounding him throughout his career.
The Proteas Connection
The 54-year-old is highly revered as a coach and has a wealth of experience as the head coach of four national teams and numerous domestic teams across the globe. Mickey started his international career with South Africa in 2005 and witnessed a rocky start initially, before finding his feet and establishing the Proteas as one of the best sides in the world.
Mickey had a tough start to his international career as he lost his first two Test series, both against the mighty Australians. After a disappointing start, South Africa showed signs of improvement, particularly in white-ball cricket.
Soon, South Africa rose to the summit of the ODI rankings and they followed it up by becoming one of the strongest sides in Test cricket as well. Under Mickey, South Africa registered their first series win against England in England after 40 years and also won the first Test series in Australia in their history.
After a tenure of nearly 5 years, Mickey suddenly resigned from his post, just four days before the team was scheduled to leave for the Test series against India. Reports at the time suggested that Mickey’s relationship with the South African captain, Graeme Smith, had turned sour and there was no way that both parties could continue working together.
After Mickey’s reign as coach, former South African opener, Herschelle Gibbs, revealed the details of his relationship with Mickey. Gibbs stated that Mickey had little to no influence on the team and he shifted his responsibility on Smith’s shoulders which gave him too much authority. Gibbs further revealed that the coach and the captain started to drift apart and their relationship became irreparable which had an adverse impact on the dressing room.
Mickey did not do any favors to himself as well. After leaving the South African camp, Mickey accused former pacer, Makhaya Ntini of playing the race card. Mickey said that Ntini accused him of racism after he was dropped from the side due to a string of poor performances. Mickey’s comments were not taken lightly by former South African Cricket Board president, Ray Mali, as he said that Mickey had escalated the situation and no such comments were made by Ntini.
Here’s Mickey’s record as South Africa coach:
| Format | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | W/L ratio |
| Test | 43 | 21 | 16 | 6 | 1.31 |
| ODI | 98 | 63 | 32 | – | 1.96 |
| T20I | 26 | 17 | 9 | – | 1.89 |
Disaster Downunder
Mickey was appointed as the head coach of the Australian cricket team in November 2011 and lasted approximately two years before being sacked ahead of the 2013 Ashes series.
Mickey’s tenure as Australian head coach involved a poor string of results and a major controversy as he failed to stamp his authority on one of the most dominant sides in world cricket.
The most high-profile controversy during Mickey’s tenure was the ‘homework gate’, where he dropped four players from the squad for failing to complete an off-field task. This particular controversy along with a 4-0 Test series thrashing against India led to his downfall. Three weeks before the start of the Ashes, Mickey was shown the door.
Australia, one of the strongest and highest-ranked sides in world cricket prior to Mickey’s appointment, suffered greatly as they witnessed a steep decline in their rankings and the team looked disjointed on the field.
Let’s have a look at Mickey’s record as Australia’s coach:
| Format | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | W/L Ratio |
| Test | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1.67 |
| ODI | 38 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1.12 |
| T20I | 16 | 7 | 9 | – | 0.78 |
The Pakistani Rollercoaster
Mickey was appointed as Pakistan’s head coach in May 2016 and was it nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. The South African took a team on the brink of failing to qualify for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy to the eventual champions of the competition in just around a year.
Pakistan became the number one ranked Test side and the T20I side under Mickey’s and it looked like Pakistan cricket was finally going to develop into a stable setup.
Well, in the words of Nasser Hussain, “Pakistan cricket, one minute down, next minute up!”, is exactly what happened during Mickey’s stint as head coach of the side.
Pakistan’s performances remained inconsistent throughout the latter part of Mickey’s reign, with the team failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup, suffering massive defeats to India, West Indies, and Australia in the group stages.
Reports of clashes within the side and Mickey’s preference to play his favorite players rather than deserving ones started to emerge from the camp and an underwhelming performance in the World Cup put the final nail in the coffin.
Mickey was removed as the head coach of Pakistan on 7 August 2019 as the PCB decided not to renew his contract. Mickey expressed his disappointment at the sacking and stated that he felt betrayed by the people he trusted.
Mickey’s tenure as Pakistan’s head coach was just as inconsistent as the national team’s. His preference for certain of his favorite players from Karachi Kings proved to be a good and bad thing for the national side.
His insistence on sticking with Babar Azam in the Test side, despite a less-than-stellar start to his Test career, proved to be a good decision as Babar went on to establish himself as one of the best players in the format. On the other hand, he preferred to pick Imad Wasim ahead of Nawaz for a number of years, which did not make sense due to Nawaz’s incredible outing in the PSL and domestic circuit.
Another controversy that emerged during his time as Pakistan’s head coach was his relationship with middle-order batter, Umar Akmal. Akmal stated that Mickey had personal issues with him and used harsh words against him on a number of occasions. Mickey did not take lightly to Akmal’s comments and stated that he should have a hard look in the mirror before accusing him of making things personal between them.
Mickey’s record as Pakistan’s coach:
| Format | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | W/L Ratio |
| Test | 28 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 0.58 |
| ODI | 68 | 32 | 34 | – | 0.94 |
| T20I | 37 | 30 | 7 | – | 4.28 |
The Conflict of Interest
Before his stint as the head coach of the Pakistan team, Mickey was appointed as the head coach of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, Karachi Kings.
Soon after the conclusion of the inaugural edition of the PSL, Mickey was handed over the reins of the national side as well. While the cricketing fraternity expected Mickey to step down as the coach of Karachi Kings, in order to avoid any conflict of interest, he continued in his role with the franchise for the next three editions as well.
This raised a lot of question marks on the integrity of the coach as he had assumed roles both as the national coach and the franchise coach, which would surely have clouded his judgment. Cricket fans raised their concerns that the dual role would promote favoritism and nepotism in the national side as Mickey had the power to select his favorite players from the franchise for the national team.
During his tenure as the head coach of Karachi Kings, a number of controversies emerged regarding a bad atmosphere in the dressing room. Shoaib Malik, the captain in the first season, left captaincy midway through the tournament, which raised question marks on Malik’s professionalism and Mickey’s ability to control his dressing room. Ravi Bopara was appointed as the captain for the remainder of the season.
Further question marks were raised on Mickey as he preferred Imad Wasim, who played for Karachi, in the national team at the expense of Mohammad Nawaz, who had been one of the top performers in domestic and franchise cricket. This irked the cricket community regarding Mickey’s selection policy and favoritism.
Mickey’s record as Karachi’s coach:
| Edition | Matches | Wins | Losses | Position Finished | W/L Ratio |
| 2016 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4th | 0.28 |
| 2017 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3rd | 1.00 |
| 2018 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 4th | 0.83 |
| 2019 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 4th | 0.83 |
| Overall | 42 | 17 | 24 | – | 0.71 |
The Lankan Rebuild
Mickey was appointed as Sri Lanka’s head coach in late 2019 as the Sri Lankan cricket board looked for fresh ideas in order to rebuild their stale side. Mickey focused on bringing in new talent to the squad in order to rebuild the squad for the future.
The likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, and Dushmantha Chameera emerged and established themselves as international stars. Despite the fresh blood, Sri Lanka’s performances were inconsistent.
Questions arose regarding Mickey’s reliance on youth and ignoring experienced performers, especially in the Test format. Angelo Mathews’ absence from the squad irked the Sri Lankan cricket experts as they believed he still had a lot to offer and was in a fine run of form prior to Mickey’s arrival as head coach.
Just as the team started to take shape and looked like becoming a force to be reckoned with, Mickey decided to join Derbyshire as their head of cricket. The decision was respected by the Sri Lankan board, but the cricketing fraternity was left unimpressed as he left the job in the middle of the rebuilding phase.
Mickey’s record as Sri Lanka’s coach:
| Format | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | W/L Ratio |
| Test | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0.80 |
| ODI | 18 | 7 | 10 | – | 0.70 |
| T20I | 25 | 8 | 16 | – | 0.50 |
There have been a string of controversies throughout Mickey’s coaching career with multiple international and domestic teams. While things started off in an exciting way, the relationship between the coaching staff and the players started to deteriorate and the environment within the dressing room started to turn toxic. While Mickey does have the credentials as a top cricket coach, there have been numerous instances of favoritism, the shift of power, and Mickey’s nature of taking matters into his own hand.
PCB’s insistence on appointing Mickey as the director of cricket may come as a surprise to everyone, given his track record throughout his coaching career. Mickey’s imminent arrival could prove to be a gamble, but it is a gamble that the PCB is willing to take.
