ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan cricket team director Mickey Arthur said on Thursday that the country’s cricket was in a “very disappointing place,” saying that the lack of support extended to talented players makes them underperform. 

Arthur was appointed team director by former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi in April 2023. The South African coach did not spend a large amount of time with the team physically due to his contract with English county team Derbyshire, earning the ire of cricket fans and critics alike. The former Pakistan coach, however, joined the team part-way through the Asia Cup, and was with Pakistan’s squad for the entirety of their World Cup campaign in November. 

After the national team’s disappointing performance in the 50-over World Cup in India, Pakistan appointed former cricketer Mohammad Hafeez as the team’s director and head coach. Meanwhile, head coach Grant Bradburn and Arthur were initially reassigned before a new team management was brought in. 

In an exclusive interview with cricket website ESPNcricinfo, Arthur said he still follows Pakistan cricket but the passion he had for it “waned a little bit” after he was sacked. 

“To be brutally honest, I think Pakistan cricket is in a very disappointing place,” he said. “There’s a massive amount of talent there, there are some world-class players, not just talented players. They’re not given the support structure that they need to flourish.”

Pakistan followed up its disappointing stint in the 50-over World Cup with hapless performances in its recently concluded tour of Australia and New Zealand. During the three-match Test series, the South Asian team lost 3-0 to Australia. Against New Zealand, the green shirts, led by new captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, lost 4-1 in a five-match T20I series. 

The South African coach said that in 2017 when Pakistan won the Champions Trophy under former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, and till 2019 when he was the team’s coach, he helped create an environment where the cricketers were made to work hard but received his full support. Arthur said as a result, the cricketers played for the team rather than their individual selves. 

“When there’s security within the environment, Pakistan is very good. When there’s that insecurity, players start playing for themselves instead of the team because they’re thinking of the next tour, and the next contract,” he said. 

“That’s a dangerous place to be in, and that’s kind of where Pakistan cricket is now. And that’s something that’s very disappointing and sad for me.”