Experience has shown having champion players doesn’t guarantee the championship: Mickey Arthur

 

Interviewer with Mickey Arthur

WITH more lows than highs in the past month, the World Cup hasn’t gone the way Mickey Arthur, Pakistan team’s director of cricket would have liked, but he’s far from crushed.

Technically, Pakistan are still in contention for a semi-finals berth. Realistically, even a miracle no less may not be enough. 

Be it teams or players, only the controllables can be controlled. Once other equations come into play, might as well board the first flight home. 

Naturally, Mickey still has fingers crossed, hopeful that Babar Azam and his men can raise the bar exponentially against England, at Eden Gardens, on Saturday.

In a way, perhaps, Glenn Maxwell is an inspiration. Powered by his 201 not out against Afghanistan, Australia managed what appeared impossible.

But then… The world, as Virat Kohli says in a classic promotional on TV, does live on hope.  

As Pakistan cricket’s off-the-field face, Mickey is aware he must not come across as deflated even if, within, he wrestles with disturbing questions. 

So, Mickey was (outwardly) reasonably relaxed when I met him for a quick meal at the JW Marriott in Calcutta.

Mickey was new in the job when I met him for the first time, on India’s 2005-2006 tour of South Africa. He never looked stressed, not even after India won the Johannesburg Test (Sourav Ganguly’s comeback and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth’s splendid bowling were highlights). 

Ready to greet you with a smile, Mickey has remained a friend, forever making the effort to accommodate. Always happy to share his views on a range of subjects too.

Mickey, I may point out, is privy to plenty of information, some of it privileged, thanks to friends in the fraternity across the world. Always interesting, then, talking cricket with him. 

Unlike other interviews, I didn’t prepare a set of questions. During the meal, however, I decided to put out Mickey’s thoughts in my Blog – only what was on-record.

As Mickey holds a sensitive position, I had to be doubly careful that anything spoken strictly between friends remained exactly that way.

Excerpts…

Q: You’re the Pakistan team’s director of cricket, but continue with Derbyshire… Unusual arrangement, isn’t it?
A: As coach, I had a very good working relationship with Najam Sethi, when he was the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman. When Sethi came back, he wanted me to return and complete the unfinished task. I explained my position and offered to work with the Babars at the end of the season in England till the start of the pre-season training at Derbyshire the following year. I also offered to appoint the support staff and put a structure in place… Get the support staff (which includes Morne Morkel) to report to me… Sethi agreed and I came on a two-year contract this summer.
Q: As with the politics in Pakistan, the PCB is hardly stable for any length of time. Sethi is himself no longer there…
A: It’s not for me to comment on matters which have nothing to do with cricket. Fact is I’m on a contract. 
Q: You were set for an extension at the end of the 2019 World Cup, but didn’t get it from the PCB. Didn’t that make you wary?
A: I got invited to return. I’m looking ahead, not back.  
Q: Having already coached Pakistan and experienced first hand how things worked (or didn’t work), what have you set out to achieve as team director?
A: Consistency… In selections, in the preparations; putting a structure in place at the Academy in Lahore; above all, helping create sustainable success. Everything is linked… The U-19s, the Shaheens (as the A team is called)… It’s not only about Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Cannot be. 
Q: Why didn’t Babar and his men write their own script in this World Cup instead of banking on other teams to come to the rescue?
A: The tournament isn’t over for us… We do have experienced players... Our worst game was probably against Afghanistan.
Q: What do you keep telling the players?
A: What I’d tell them during the 2017 Champions Trophy, which we won: Play with passion, have pride for the badge. 
Q: Nothing more? 
A: Team directors and coaches need to do most of the communicating behind closed doors. It’s about trust… I know from experience that having champion players doesn’t guarantee the championship. 
Q: The best batsman need not necessarily be the best candidate to captain… Your take?
A: There could be exceptions. 
Q: What’s the No.1 quality a captain must possess?
A: Captains and coaches need to be good communicators. Other qualities come later. 
Q: Won’t land you in possible trouble by asking about Babar, the captain, but some words on Babar, the batsman?
A: Babar is a perfectionist. Even at nets, he won’t be satisfied till he has hit the perfect cover drive. Babar’s attention to detail is admirable.
Q: Inconsistency over the 22 yards, but have Babar and the rest embraced India, if I may put it that way?
A: One venue was hostile, but the experience at other centres has been absolutely enjoyable. As for hospitality, great! Everywhere. I do know my players have soaked in the atmosphere at the big grounds, appreciated the largely welcoming crowds… Wish players from Pakistan again get to play the IPL – there hasn’t been anybody, I believe, after 2015. 
Q: Shaheen Shah Afridi would fetch astronomical bids at the auction… 
A: Shaheen, definitely. He’d be invaluable for any IPL franchise… Imagine him steaming in to bowl the first ball at a packed Eden Gardens or the Chinnaswamy (in Bangalore)… Shadab Khan too. And I’ve mentioned only two names.  
Q: What did you make of Maxwell’s mind-blowing innings the other night?
A: Unbelievable… Simply unbelievable. 
Q: Clearly, Afghanistan have been the most-improved team in World Cup 2023…
A: The difference, this time, has been their batting. Must say Rahmanullah Gurbaz is a high-quality batsman.
Q: You admired Rahul Dravid, now India’s head coach, when he was lending more than a touch of class to the batting… Could Dravid taste the same success in his latest role?
A: Great batsman, great human being, potentially great coach.
Q: Did you get the opportunity to interact with Dravid?
A: I met Dravid during the Asia Cup, in Colombo… Then, of course, we had a nice chat in Ahmedabad before the Pakistan-India match.
Q: You tasted much success in your first assignment with a National team, South Africa. Something from that experience you’ve never forgotten? 
A: In 2005, I was raw… Was in my 30s with everything to learn… One of the players I had to work with was the great Jacques Kallis. I was at a loss, not knowing what I’d coach him about batting! I decided to end my dilemma by having a one-on-one with Kallis. I asked what did he want me to do? Kallis’s answer – “structure.”
Q: So, Kallis wanted a structure in place?
A: Nothing more! Kallis said he needed a structured environment to succeed. Everything had to be in place in an organised manner, from training sessions to meetings with coaches, days off… From then on, a structured environment has been the priority for me. Everywhere (Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan again, in a different role, after South Africa). 
Q: Finally, when do you go back to Derbyshire?
A: Around mid-January.