Cricket News: Arthur Remains Hopeful |
Posted: July 9, 2019 |
In cricinfo, Mickey Arthur remains hopeful of continuing as Pakistan’s head coach even if the team doesn’t make it out of the group stage. There is nothing they can do at the moment to ensure themselves a spot in the semi-finals. They need to win their last match against Bangladesh to remain in contention for the final four. However, winning that match will still be insufficient for Pakistan to progress. They also need other results to go their way. Pakistan does not have a good history of retaining coaches. An early exit from the tournament might make the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) think about replacing Arthur. However, the former South African and Australian coach is still hopeful that the board will keep him as head coach. He took charge of the cricket team in 2016. The highest point of his coaching came in 2017 when Pakistan won their first-ever Champions Trophy. Pakistan cricket has also seen some disappointing moments during Arthur’s coaching. They lost by many runs to New Zealand in ODIs; they also lost the Test series at home against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. In last year’s Asia Cup, Pakistan didn’t have the best of luck. So far this year, South Africa dominated them in Tests before beating them in ODIs and T20-Is. Australia and England also dominated them in ODIs. In this year’s ICC World Cup, Pakistan started the tournament with a loss to West Indies before losing to India and Australia. Wins over England, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan have kept alive thus far. Arthur’s contract, which was extended for another two years after the Champions Trophy triumph, is about to expire this year at the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup. But Arthur is hopeful of getting another extension. “I’d love to continue with PCB, there’s no secret as I have said it a million times. I think there’s going to be a review (after the World Cup). I think there’s been some really good work done over time. Yes, we had some disappointing times and it comes and goes with the cricket. But I think if it does not happen it will disappointing, but we can look back at the three years knowing we’ve made a significant contribution to Pakistan cricket,” Arthur said.
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