Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick, who were placed in the position of director, head coach and batting coach, resigned from their position. The Pakistan Cricket Board informed about the development and issued a press release regarding it. Arthur and Puttick were replaced by former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez and he is the new director and boss of the Pakistan men’s cricket team.
mickey arturo was appointed director of the Pakistan cricket team in April last year, while Grant Bradburn became the team’s head coach in early 2023. Arthur also had a successful stint with Pakistan as head coach and helped them win the Champions Trophy in 2017 .
Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick resign from Pakistan cricket team
The press release said: “Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick, who were assigned roles at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore after a change in their portfolios in November 2023, have resigned from their respective positions.”
“In April 2023, Arthur was appointed manager of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, while Bradburn was announced as head coach of the Pakistan men’s team early last year. Puttick, a former South Africa cricketer, has been Pakistan’s batting coach since April 2023.”
“The three persons informed the Pakistan Cricket Board of their decision to leave their respective jobs at the end of January 2024. The decision was taken amicably between all concerned parties. The PCB wishes them the best in their future endeavors and appreciates their services.”
Pakistan cricket team performed poorly in ODI World Cup 2023 and Asia Cup 2023. Pakistan failed to qualify for the last 16 of CWC 2023 and finished fifth with 4 wins in 9 games. Pakistan faced a lot of problems against big teams like India, Australia and England, while they could only beat low-ranked teams like Sri Lanka, Netherlands and Bangladesh. Pakistan also faced a setback and loss at the hands of Afghanistan.
The Asia Cup 2023 was not a wonderful time for Pakistan as they faced humiliating defeats against India and Sri Lanka and were eliminated from the Super 4 stage of the tournament.
Furthermore, the pace battery that was once Pakistan’s strength had become its weakness. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi made a lot of runs during the ODI World Cup 2023 and failed to leave any impact.
However, the biggest problem with Pakistan was the poor performance of former captain Babar Azam. Babar could not bat to his reputation and failed to score runs in the ODI World Cup and Asia Cup. Babar, who is currently the number one ODI batsman, also resigned from the captaincy of the Pakistan team after the 2023 ODI World Cup.
There was a big change in the Pakistani management when Wahab Riaz was appointed chief selector of the men’s cricket team, while Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi became captains in the Test and T20I formats respectively.
Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal joined Pakistan along with Mohammad Hafeez as seam and spin bowling coach. However, it does not seem like fortunes have changed for Pakistan as they faced a humiliating defeat in the Test series against Australia and also lost the first three T20Is of a five-match series against New Zealand.