Mickey Arthurs appointment

[GVGjr]

Re: Mickey Arthurs appointment

Why does Clarke have to come and publicly back Punter? These selection questions should be asked behind closed doors!!Time the tail stopped wagging the Dog in Australian cricket!!

Clarke should only be a selector on overseas tours and shouldn't comment on future team selections. If he backs the likes of Ponting and the selectors end up overruling him then it becomes a PR nightmare. He should just play a straight bat to any questions around team selection.

[GVGjr]

Re: Mickey Arthurs appointment

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The steel behind Arthur's smile

Amid South African celebrations of a first-ever Test series victory in Australia, Mickey Arthur jumped off a chartered boat hosting the team on New Year's Eve and swam in Sydney harbour. There must have been something in that water, for less than four years later he has dived in again, becoming Australia's head coach until at least 2015.

The leap epitomised Arthur's gregarious, enthusiastic and ever-smiling public face. He is unfailingly friendly to journalists and strides easily under the gaze of cricket watchers. Grins were frequent when Arthur was announced as coach, and he accompanied his sunny visage with all the right words about building a team. But those who have worked with Arthur in South Africa, and more recently in Western Australia, are in no doubt about the steel behind the smile.

Arthur, it cannot be forgotten, fought unceasing battles with South Africa's cricket administrators as he and Graeme Smith forged a team capable of claiming victory in Australia. The struggle was relentless, and it ultimately hastened Arthur's departure from the job, much to the chagrin of the players. At Western Australia, one of his first decisions was to jettison the ailing seam bowler Ashley Noffke after the first round of domestic matches. His demands for a stronger work ethic among WA squad members raised the ire of several established players but earned the respect of all. These are not the actions of a roly-poly yes-man.

Marcus North, the WA captain, first encountered him when Arthur was South Africa's coach in 2009, and they formed a strong relationship. He has seen both sides of Arthur, public and private, and considers the balance an apt one.

"I think we've seen some of the positives that are coming through WA cricket over the last year and a half," North said. "We've seen some difficult changes he's had to make in our set-up, and also [in] South Africa - and some of the changes he had to make there with key players... you have to control egos to a degree in all levels. He's experienced that and his knowledge of being able to adapt to different personalities is certainly going to be a huge plus for Australian cricket.

"I think he's got a great balance in the way he approaches people. He's got a great way of learning how to get to know different people and how they work in and out. He's not all about the hard South African kind of way. He's certainly got a formal side, as you need at the top job as a head coach. The players know exactly where they stand. He's a great communicator and I can't speak highly enough of him."

North and Adam Voges, another senior man, were important to Arthur establishing himself at WA. Styled as a tough taskmaster on his appointment, Arthur followed through on his promise for higher standards, and needed help to carry them through. "Marcus and Adam were fantastic within the structure, and I think that every state definitely needs those players in their system because those are the guys who bring the young guys through," Arthur said earlier this year. "You can't have a team of total youngsters with no players to learn off. But similarly you can't get yourself into a position with a team that's just old, and [you're] going to lose three or four guys in one go and have no succession plan."