Former head coach of Pakistan men’s cricket team Mickey Arthur has expressed his displeasure on the ongoing controversy surrounding current interim head coach Aqib Javed’s remarks on the national team’s coaching setup and former coach Jason Gillespie’s direct response to it.
Ex-coach Mickey said he knows what it’s like to be a part of the Pakistan’s coaching staff amid the ongoing war of words between Jason Gillespie and Aaqib Javed.
As always, there’s no shortage of entertainment in Pakistan cricket.
The dispute began when Javed openly criticized the instability within Pakistan cricket team during a press conference following the announcement of the squad for the New Zealand tour.
“We have changed nearly 16 coaches and 26 selectors in the last two years,” Javed said. “If you apply that formula to any team in the world, they would face similar instability. Until there is consistency from the top down, progress will remain elusive.”
Following the early exit of Rizwan’s men in green from the Champions Trophy, the blame game started, and no one was spared. Everyone previously involved in Pakistan cricket had a hard-hitting remark at the team, but the deepest brunt was borne by Jason Gillespie.
The former Australia pacer, who took over as the coach of the Test team but resigned in less than a year and called his successor Aaqib Javed a ‘clown’, accusing him of undermining his credibility.
Gillespie, along with Gary Kirsten (coach of the white-ball team) were appointed by the PCB for their respective positions in April 2024, but both shockingly left for reasons unknown.
In response to Aaqib’s strong comment made in the press conference, Gillespie responded stating, “This is hilarious. Aaqib was clearly undermining Gary and I behind the scenes, campaigning to be the coach in all formats. He is a clown.”
Looking at the history, this isn’t the first instance of a Pakistan coach being mismanaged by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Who knows it better than Mickey Arthur, who led the team as a head coach for three years between 2016 and 2019. Summing up the circus that Pakistan cricket is, Arthur said he loves what Gillespie had to say, capping off all that is wrong with its cricket.
“I love this quote to be brutally honest. Jason Gillespie is a wonderful coach, wonderful man. Pakistan cricket just continues to shoot itself in the foot. It is its worst enemy. There are so many good players; they’ve got the resources now; there’s so much young talent.
They have incredible skill. And yet it’s still so chaotic. It’s really disappointing to see. I thought when they signed Gillespie and Kirsten, they had gone down exactly the right route, and they had got some really good players. Because ultimately, it’s the players that lose out,” Arthur was quoted while sharing his two cents on the ugly spat.
With the recent abysmal performances and senior players putting a poor show in the Champions Trophy, all hell broke loose for PCB’s management. Mohammad Rizwan replaced Babar Azam as captain, Shadab Khan disappeared, the charm in Shaheen Afridi went missing, and Pakistan’s performance totally tanked as a team.
All of it, as Arthur, pointed out, stems from the multiple behind-the-scenes politics. Former legendary batsman Shahid Afridi also expressed his disappointment and remarked with all guards down of Pakistan cricket’s current scenario being critical, similar to being in the ICU.
Equating to a jungle, the associated members of the cricket fraternity have become like lost animals who certainly need to set a clear order to revive the hopeless situation and get a hold back on their game.
