Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is having a tough time finding a coach for their men’s cricket team. As Saqlain Mushtaq’s tenure as the head coach of the team comes to an end this month, the PCB, under its new regime has no plans to renew Mushtaq’s contract considering Pakistan’s below-par performances since the T20 World Cup 2022 Final. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Mickey Arthur can come on board but not on a full-time basis.
Reports have emerged that Arthur, who has previously coached Pakistan, is not ready to give up his long-term contract with Derbyshire. However, the South African can take up the role concurrently. PCB seems to have agreed to Arthur’s terms and conditions. It will be an unusual arrangement for international cricket, in which Arthur will not be with the Pakistan team on every tour but will have a handpicked group of support staff running operations.
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And therefore, this agreement between Arthur and PCB has certainly not gone well with former Pakistan captain Misbah Ul Haq. Misbah, who succeeded Arthur as the chief coach of the Shaheens has called this agreement “a slap in Pakistan cricket’s face”.
"It's a slap on our cricket system that we are not able to find a high-profile full-time coach," Misbah was quoted saying by ESPNcricinfo. "It's a shame that the best ones do not want to come and we insist on having someone who is looking at Pakistan as a second option. I blame our own system, which is vulnerable enough with so many weak lines for anyone to exploit it. We are to be blamed ourselves that we have disrespected and discredited our own people to make a bad image.
"The present and former lot don't respect each other, with media and former players using their own YouTube channels for ratings, damaging the credibility and value of our cricket which, as a result, gives an impression that we are not capable.”
Misbah also lashed out at PCB for not supporting local coaches and running behind foreign coaches all the time. "PCB is always ready to back foreign coaches but never supports the local ones," Misbah said. "They are fond of having overseas coaches because they think locals can easily be politicised and are incapable. But do we know it's the PCB bureaucracy who politicised the structure?
“They throw the local ones under the bus when they come under pressure and there has never been accountability of this bureaucracy in PCB. It's the mismanagement and the consistent changes at the helm that is a problem and we are never able to find one solid line for our cricket.”
