John Michael Arthur (born 17 May 1968) is a South African-Australian cricket coach, commentator and former

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, who played in South African domestic cricket from 1986 to 2001. He has served as the head coach of the

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...

since November 2021. He coached the South African national team from 2005 to 2010, was the coach of the

Australia national cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

from 2010 until his sacking in June 2013 (then to be replaced by Darren Lehmann) and was the coach of the Pakistan cricket team from 2016 to 2019. During his time with Pakistan, he led the team to being the winners of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. In December 2019, Mickey was appointed as the new head coach of Sri Lanka by the

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka on 30 June 1975 as a national ...

replacing interim coach Rumesh Ratnayake.

Biography

Arthur was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, Transvaal, South Africa. He is an old boy of Westville Boys' High School.

Playing career

Arthur scored 6,557 runs playing for

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

and South Africa A before retiring in 2001.

Coaching career

South Africa

Arthur began his coaching career by coaching Griqualand West cricket team in the domestic competition before taking over the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

side in 2003. In his last two series in charge Arthur managed to guide them to the finals of the Standard Bank Pro20 Series. He was a surprising choice to take over as the national coach in May 2005, succeeding Ray Jennings. He had a tough introduction into international cricket with his first two Test series as coach happening to be against a rampant

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, both away and at home, during which

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

were easily beaten. An injury-hit South Africa failed to make the finals of the 2005–06 VB Series, but they did clinch a tense one-day series win over Australia at home, which culminated in an iconic match at Johannesburg. A home win over

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

was followed up by a disastrous tour of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in the summer of 2006, where South Africa lost both Tests and pulled out of a tri-series after a bomb exploded in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, and failure to make the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. Successes include back-to-back Test and one-day series victories against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

at home propelled South Africa to the top of the ODI rankings. This was a major boost prior to the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

. South Africa were, however, disappointing at the world cup. They had a roller coaster ride that included dominant wins over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and a narrow win over

but devastating losses to Australia, New Zealand and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

that cost them the number one ranking. Then they bowed out in the semifinals with their lowest ever score in a World Cup as Australia bowled them out for 149 and won by 7 wickets. The preceding two years had been the best in

's test history. Starting with the two home series wins at home against

and

, Arthur lead the team through a series of 9 unbeaten test series and a number of good one-day results. This streak included wins against

and

at home and away wins against

and a credible draw in

. In 2008, Arthur became the first South African coach to guide his team to a test win in

. The team backed up this performance by winning the resulting One-Day International series against the odds. This unexpected 4–1 win meant that they regained the No.1 ranking in the One-Day International rankings. During the 2005/06 tour to

, he questioned the umpiring standards, claiming that the officials were biased due to overappealing by the Australian cricket team. He was cleared of the charges. In January 2010 he resigned because of alleged differences between himself and

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...

. The reports say Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Gerald Majola will oversee the interim selection process with former South African fast bowler Corrie van Zyl and former South African captain

Kepler Wessels Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born 14 September 1957) is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor. He ...

for the two-Test and three-ODI tour of India.

Australia

Arthur was the coach of the Western Warriors and later coached the Australian cricket team. During the 2013 Australian tour of India, Arthur was criticised for his role in the ''Homeworkgate'' scandal, where he required members of the team to complete homework. He continued to coach the team until the Champions Trophy-2013 in England, where Australia crashed out in the group stages. As a pre-emptive measure ahead of the upcoming Ashes series in England, Mickey Arthur was sacked and replaced by Darren Lehmann. In August 2013, Arthur was appointed as the head coach and director of cricket at Christ Church Grammar School, an Anglican all-boys' school in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. In 2016, Arthur became a naturalised Australian citizen.

Karachi Kings

He was appointed as the head coach of Karachi Kings in the debut season of Pakistan Super League which was held from 4 February 2016 to 23 February 2016 in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. They came fourth in a five-team group table due to which they had to play third-placed Islamabad United in the elimination round, where they lost by 9 wickets and were knocked-out of the tournament. On 13 November 2019, he was replaced by Dean Jones as the head coach.

Dhaka Dynamites

He was appointed as the head coach of Dhaka Dynamites for 2015 BPL season.

Pakistan

He was appointed as head coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team on 6 May 2016, thus becoming a head coach of an international team for the third time. He has had his fair share of success with Pakistan. Under his guidance Pakistan became the number one ranked test and T20 side. He coached Pakistan to the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy title on 18 June, with a stunning 180 run victory against arch-rivals India in the finals. This was the first time Pakistan Cricket Team managed to win ICC Champions Trophy since the inception of the tournament in 1998. Following the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy win, Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka in an ODI and T20 series after losing the Test series. On 8 July 2018, Pakistan won a triangular series among Zimbabwe, Australia and Pakistan. Pakistan defeated Australia in the final with 6 wickets. Pakistan maintained their no. 1 ranking in T20. On 7 August 2019, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

chose not to renew Arthur's contract as coach of the national side. Arthur was approached to return as head coach of Pakistan after Saqlain Mustaq's contract ends in February 2023 but turned it down saying "He was absolutely committed to the project he'd started at Derbyshire" according to Derbyshire CEO Ryan Duckett. However, the PCB later offered Arthur to become the Pakistan cricket team's director which allowed him to work with both Derbyshire and Pakistan with Arthur also not required to travel for any bilateral series. On 20 April 2023, Arthur was appointed Pakistan's director. He later resigned.

Sri Lanka

Appointed as the coach of Sri Lanka cricket since Feb 2020 - November 2021

Derbyshire

Mickey Arthur joined Derbyshire upon the expiry of his Sri Lankan contract becoming the Head of Cricket in December 2021 replacing the outgoing Dave Houghton. He moved to bring in Suranga Lakmal as an overseas player on a two-year deal and later added Shan Masood for the solitary season. After injuries and international duty caused both players to be unavailable for periods he also brought in Hilton Carwright and Hayden Kerr.

Dambulla Aura

Mickey Arthur works for Dambulla Aura as the head coach in the Lanka Premier

References

External links

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ICC Trophy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Mickey 1968 births Living people Cricketers from Johannesburg South African people of British descent Coaches of the South Africa national cricket team Coaches of the Australia national cricket team Free State cricketers Griqualand West cricketers South African cricket coaches South African cricketers South African emigrants to Australia South African expatriate sportspeople in Pakistan Coaches of the Pakistan national cricket team Australian cricket coaches Australian expatriate sportspeople in Pakistan Naturalised citizens of Australia Coaches of the Sri Lanka national cricket team Alumni of Westville Boys' High School