The exciting cricketing talent that is available in Sri Lanka is what attracted Mickey Arthur to accept a two-year contract with Sri Lanka Cricket as head coach of the country’s national cricket team. Arthur replaces Chandika Hathurusingha whose services SLC terminated at the end of the home ODI series against Bangladesh in June.
In his inaugural press conference with the Sri Lankan media, 51-year-old South African Arthur said, “The thing that really attracted me was the talent that was available. That was the key motivating factor. I’ve been out during their training this morning and there’s a lot of talent. It’s teaching them how to use that talent, the way to use that talent and giving them clear old clarities, etc. that was the exciting mitigating factor for me.”
Speaking about the objectives he hopes to achieve during his two-year tenure which commences with the two-Test tour to Pakistan later this month, Arthur stated, “The cricket world is so fluid at the moment we are sitting on a World Test Championship and an ICC World T20 just around the corner, but the main thing for me is we are in it to win. I had a good chat with the boys this morning.
“Every time we go onto the field we are representing a very proud cricket nation. We want to go and win every game we play. But for me the key is seeing the guys develop, getting a consistent core group of players that can play and compete at the highest level and watching them develop is going to be very exciting.”
Sri Lanka stands to benefit a lot from the coaching experience of Arthur who has served as head coach with countries like South Africa, Australia and Pakistan.
“Coaching has taught me a whole lot and I could say that I’ve been the best coach I could possibly be now. When I coached South Africa I was very young. We were a very young side and finding our way in the game. I had five very good years there. Two years with Australia - the first year was very good but the second wasn’t all that great,” said Arthur.
“Then I had three wonderful years of Pakistan. I liked every minute of working with those players because they were very much like the Sri Lankan players, very humble boys. They have got great values and to see them develop and fulfill their potential was fantastic. One thing I’ve learnt is just to have a look, understand the culture first and foremost and once you understand the culture and the environment then to get it going in the direction you want.”
Arthur was mainly responsible for raising Pakistan’s fielding and fitness levels during his tenure with them.
“The secret is hard work there’s nothing else. When we sat with the squad as a playing group we set ourselves realistic targets with red balls and white balls as to where we want to get to but those are non-negotiables,” said Arthur. “When we go out there to the training ground we train, work hard and train to get better. I’ve always said your intensity with which you train with is what you take into the game. You can switch it on and off.
“Pakistan at that point were lagging behind the race. We made it up. It was exciting to see players develop. It was a great journey. I was impressed with Sri Lanka’s fitness levels and we can improve. Excellence is our mantra. Everything that we do is going to be based on excellence,” he said.
When Arthur was reminded of the poor track record that Sri Lanka Cricket has with overseas coaches, he responded, “I am looking at it very positively. Everything that I have seen so far has been very good. What has happened in the past is in the past I will perform the role to the best of my ability and on the longevity we’ll have some success.
“The success is in seeing Kusal Mendis become one of the best players in the world. Seeing (Lahiru) Kumara becoming one of the best bowler’s in the world. If I can get those players believing in themselves and getting better that’s all I am worried about because ultimately that’s going to lead to the wins and performances.”
In addition to announcing the post of Arthur as head coach Sri Lanka Cricket also made the following appointments: Grant Flower as national batting coach and head of Sri Lanka ‘A’ team (with effect from December 6), David Sekar as national fast bowling coach (with effect from December 8), and Shane McDermott as national fielding coach (with effect from December 2).
“We had discussions around Shane McDermott who had already been hired, Saker was highly recommended by Cricket Australia and I’ve worked with Grant Flower for three years. He was one of the best batting coaches that I’ve worked with not just in terms of knowledge but also work ethics and the empathy that he showed to the batsmen. I thought he was a perfect fit for this environment. I am very happy with the coaching team it’s pretty experienced and I am pretty sure we will get the best out of the players,” said Arthur.
In addition SLC also made Jerome Jayaratne Chief Cricket Operations officer (with effect from November 15) and Tim McCaskill Head of National Cricket Development (with effect from January 6, 2020).
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