Mickey Arthur resigns as SA coach

Good. We needed a new coach.

The new coach needs to put his foot down with these players & focus on the game!
 
Maybe this whole ball tampering issue got Mickey and Smith on opposites of the coin. I would bet Smith wanted SA to lodge an official complaint and Mickey didn't want to and didn't do it. That got Smith peeved up and their relationship took a serious blow.

That is my opinion but I think that was one of the final nails...
 
Johannesburg – South African cricket was rocked on Monday with the resignation of Mickey Arthur as coach.

The shock move comes just over a year after the Proteas’ historic Test series victory in Australia and scarcely four days before the team’s departure for India.

It is believed that Arthur’s relationship with South African captain Graeme Smith had “deteriorated irreparably”.

The country’s cricket bosses are not commenting, but it has been learned that former fast bowler Corrie van Zyl has been appointed caretaker coach and will depart with the team for India on Saturday for a series of two Tests and three one-day internationals.

Van Zyl, 48, has previously worked as the Proteas’ assistant coach and was last year appointed as coach of Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) high performance centre in Pretoria.

It is believed that Arthur’s right-hand man at the Proteas, Vincent Barnes, has also been sacked. The national selection panel, which is under the leadership of Mike Procter, may also soon get the chop.

Apart from Van Zyl, the names of former national captain Kepler Wessels and Jeremy Snape have also been mentioned as possible successors for Arthur.

Snape, who is a psychologist and former England one-day player, joined the Proteas as a consultant in 2008 and is close to Smith, with whom he is also involved at the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

It is believed that Arthur met with CSA chief executive Gerald Majola about his severance package on Monday after last year being offered around R800 000 a year to coach England. However, Arthur declined the offer as his current contract with CSA only expires after the 2011 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Arthur, Majola and Barnes did not want to comment, while Van Zyl did not respond to queries.

A press conference will be held in East London on Wednesday.

Arthur, 41, and the management of CSA held an emergency meeting in Johannesburg last Tuesday to discuss the team’s struggles in the Test series against England. The series ended in a 1-1 draw after South Africa won the last Test by an innings and 74 runs.

The tension between Arthur and Smith came to an end on the eve of the game when the captain publicly questioned his coach’s decision to “gamble” with team selection.

The Proteas won their first series in England in over 40 years and a notched a first series victory in Australia under Arthur. He succeeded Ray Jennings as coach in 2005.

However, they lost the home series against the Aussies shortly thereafter and could also not achieve much in the Twenty20 World Championship and Champions Trophy series.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Cr...8a/26-01-2010-08-38/Kepler_to_succeed_Arthur_
 
Im of the opinion that Smith has done a wonderful job with the captaincy. I've never been a huge fan of Arthur, but he does seem to have done well with the team, so I'm a little undecided as whether or not to be happy about this. Personally, I'd rather see Arthur go than Smith.
 
I want Ray but Smith & Kallis won't like the idea. If not him then probably Kepler! :)
 
It is believed that Arthur’s right-hand man at the Proteas, Vincent Barnes, has also been sacked. The national selection panel, which is under the leadership of Mike Procter, may also soon get the chop.
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excellent!! complete overhaul is needed, enough of sticking with these chokers, bring in the youngsters!
 
Rodent-Boy said:
Im of the opinion that Smith has done a wonderful job with the captaincy. I've never been a huge fan of Arthur, but he does seem to have done well with the team, so I'm a little undecided as whether or not to be happy about this. Personally, I'd rather see Arthur go than Smith.
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The fact that Arthur had to call in external consultants makes me question his ability as coach in the first place. We've basically been playing without a coach, but rather a media spokesman.
D3x said:
I want Ray but Smith & Kallis won't like the idea. If not him then probably Kepler! :)
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The problem with guys like Ray and Kepler is that they're very assertive and traditional (which some might argue is a good thing), so there might be lots of potential conflicts.
 
BobJones said:
Now if only we get a twofer and Smith is shown the door too.

These two have been dragging the side down for over a year - individual performances mean nothing if the team continues to decline - chokers deluxe.
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Without smith and arthur there would have been no place to go down from....

Funny how most in this thread see only what they want to see.
 
I'll be the first to admit that Smith wasn't always my cup of tea. But, if you look at his performances and the respect he now commands, I think he has grown into a great leader. We have beaten the Aussies and England on their own soil and are up there with the best in the world. Think about this - who else? I think Kallis and Boucher would be a step backwards. Amla? AB? I would prefer Smith but, with a coach who is more assertive and "hands-on".
 
Devill said:
Without smith and arthur there would have been no place to go down from....

Funny how most in this thread see only what they want to see.
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I agree with this. There is a twitter by Neil Manthorp:

http://twitter.com/neilmanthorp

I agree in part what he says, which is clearly shown here by the sudden rush of new people posting regarding cricketing matters to moan and complain
 
Biff needs to stay, end of story. He commands respect and leads from the front. Those are some important qualities that you want from your captain. To everyone calling for him to be axed - who would you replace him with?

Arthur on the other hand, is a bit more questionable.
 
Well well, I thought something was amiss with the lackluster performance of the team during the drawn England test series. We should have win the series hands down!! Tossed down??

Someone are very conspicuous with/in his absence in this thread
 
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sublime said:
I'll be the first to admit that Smith wasn't always my cup of tea. But, if you look at his performances and the respect he now commands, I think he has grown into a great leader. We have beaten the Aussies and England on their own soil and are up there with the best in the world. Think about this - who else? I think Kallis and Boucher would be a step backwards. Amla? AB? I would prefer Smith but, with a coach who is more assertive and "hands-on".
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Ray jennings was axed for no apparent reason (well maybe him and biff had a fall out). I still believe Jennings is the right man for the job.
 
The tail is wagging the dog. Smith should stay on as a player but not as captain. He had way too much power and I blame him even more than Arthur for the series draw vs England..
So how do you remedy this. You appoint a coach with a spine - Ray Jennings. As for captain, Boucher would probably be a good choice.

btw, for some reason Arthur makes me think of Partick Starfish :p
 
zeb said:
The tail is wagging the dog. Smith should stay on as a player but not as captain. He had way too much power and I blame him even more than Arthur for the series draw vs England..
So how do you remedy this. You appoint a coach with a spine - Ray Jennings. As for captain, Boucher would probably be a good choice.

btw, for some reason Arthur makes me think of Partick Starfish :p
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So if it was his fault we drew against england it is also his fault we beat england and Aus? I do not get how people are making such a big deal of this series draw. We were top in 3 out of the four matches and we should have won 3-1...

If Dale steyn had been fit or Ntini not playing we "could have won", if De Wet was not injured on the first day we would ten to one have won that test...

We out played the english for 90% of the series, remind me again how that is a bad thing?

+1 on Mickey Starfish :D
 
Devill said:
So if it was his fault we drew against england it is also his fault we beat england and Aus? I do not get how people are making such a big deal of this series draw. We were top in 3 out of the four matches and we should have won 3-1...

If Dale steyn had been fit or Ntini not playing we "could have won", if De Wet was not injured on the first day we would ten to one have won that test...

We out played the english for 90% of the series, remind me again how that is a bad thing?

+1 on Mickey Starfish :D
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What got my blood boiling was the late declarations. I left the room a few times to cool down, only to come back and see us still batting merrily away. I blame Smith, perhaps wrongly, for this.
 
I think that Smith is a great player but he is too much like KP. He is going to act like a petulant child whenever he doesn't get his way or agree with the coach. If you get a headstrong coach with different ideas to Smith there are going to be huge problems in SA cricket unless CSA reigns him in.

Edit: Bloody touchscreen phones.
 
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