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Mickey Arthur seems set to become the new head coach of Sri Lanka, replacing Chandika Hathurusinga, media reports stated on Wednesday. Arthur was most recently the coach of the Pakistan cricket team before being sacked earlier this year.

Former Zimbabwe batsman, Grant Flower may also be joining as batting coach, the report added. 

Sri Lanka’s fall in cricket has coincided with the instability in their support staff and the players’ constant tiff with Sri Lanka Cricket.

If the report holds true, Arthur’s first assignment will be a bittersweet homecoming as his first task will be to take Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series to Pakistan, with the country set to witness Test cricket after more than a decade.

Arthur, who played domestic cricket in South Africa but never quite made it to the international team, has carved a successful coaching career for himself. His first stint with an international team was with his home country where he took them to the 2007 World Cup semi-finals.

Arthur resigned in 2010 after some differences emerged with Cricket South Africa and went on to become head coach of eternal rivals, Australia. He stayed with them for three years, and made headlines when he clashed with senior members of the Australian cricket team.

During Australia’s tour of India in 2013, Arthur had a fight with Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson over the players not completing the ‘homework’ given to them, and were subsequently dropped from the team for the third Test. The scandal was eventually given the name ‘Homeworkgate’.

He eventually ended up at Pakistan in 2016, and the crowning moment was when they triumphed in the 2017 Champions Trophy, annihilating arch-rivals India by 180 runs in the final. 

It was Pakistan’s first-ever Champions Trophy title but they could not replicate that at the 2019 World Cup despite a late resurgence before the knockouts.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Lindsey Parnaby

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