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“This is as crazy as a clown in a village circus,” says Ramiz Raja on Mickey Arthur’s appointment

Ramiz Raja slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over Mickey Arthur’s appointment, calling it ‘crazy as a clown in a country carnival’. The PCB revealed the long-awaited selection of the former coach as Director of the Pakistan men’s cricket team on Thursday.

The negotiations between Arthur and the PCB, which had been ongoing since December of last year, have now culminated, with the PCB confirming his appointment as Team Director, although on a part-time basis, yesterday (April 20). This has elicited a number of heated comments in the Pakistan cricket community, the most vehement of which came from Ramiz Raja, the former PCB chairman.

Ramiz questioned Arthur’s allegiance to Pakistan cricket in his initial reaction to his return to the national squad. “A first-of-its-kind coach/director of cricket picked to run Pakistan cricket remotely, whose loyalty is first with his county job than Pakistan cricket. This is as crazy as a clown in a village circus,” Ramiz told reporters.

“A PCB chairman who doesn’t understand cricket, probably was not even good enough to make it to the XI in a club game, heads a cabal of political, petty minded club runners for a management committee to run Pakistan cricket affairs, who are on a Rs 12 lakh a month salary,” Ramiz added.

The Official Pakistan cricket board website stated: Mickey Arthur’s appointment as Director of the Pakistan men’s cricket team was announced today by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Arthur will be involved in the conception, formulation, and oversight of plans for the Pakistan men’s team in this capacity.

The 54-year-old will also serve as a coach for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, as well as an away trip to Australia and a home series against the West Indies. He will also be in the squad for Pakistan’s ACC Asia Cup game against India.

From 2016 to 2019, Arthur guided Pakistan to No. 1 in Tests and T20Is, as well as helping the team win the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.

Najam Sethi, Chair of PCB Management Committee explained: “I am pleased that Mickey has formally rejoined the Pakistan men’s cricket team with an enhanced role in which he will be responsible for formulating and implementing strategies for the upcoming assignments across all formats. Furthermore, he will also be responsible for strengthening the national team culture, identifying and grooming future stars so that we can strengthen our bench-strength and strategically secure our future. Having lived and worked in Pakistan during his previous tenure, Mickey knows the current players, the structure and the system at the back of his hand. I am sure he will incorporate learnings from the previous tenure so that he can have an even more successful second term.”

Mickey Arthur: “I am absolutely thrilled to be rejoining the Pakistan cricket team and look forward to working with the group.

“Since moving on, I have kept a track of the players and their collective performances. This is a talented bunch with the potential to be number one across all formats and my endeavor is to put in place strategies and create an environment that can contribute in further enhancing their performances so that we can extract the best out of them.”

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