Mickey Arthur Named New Coach of Australia

Former coach of the South African national team has been appointed as the head coach of Australia. He is the first foreign coach of Australia. Cricket Australia has completely changed their management in the wake of disastrous Ashes 2010-11 and World Cup 2011 campaigns. Ricky Ponting has been replaced by Michael Clarke, while there has been a change in the selection committee as well as the chairman of selectors.  

Mickey Arthur - New Coach of Australia

The 43 year old Mickey Arthur was the coach of South Africa from 2005-2010 and took over the coaching duties of Western Australia after that. Presently he has been handed a contract that will last till 2015 World Cup that will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. He has replaced Tim Nielsen who had resigned after the tour of Sri Lanka. Try Cooley had been associated with the team ever since in the role of interim coach.

Mickey Arthur as Coach of South Africa having word with his team

Mickey Arthur came to coaching after spending 15 years in first-class cricket. He scored 6657 runs and had 13 centuries. Though he is the first foreigner to be appointed Australian coach but he seems to be very confident about his new role. He feels that Australia has a great cricket infrastructure and lots of talent. He has been a widely acclaimed international coach known for his tactical moves and sound judgement. Mickey knows the Australian cricket system very well having been in charge of Western Australia Warriors.

Ricky Ponting and other senior batsmen have not been in best touch

His first assignment would be against New Zealand. Kiwis have always posed a serious challenge against the Australians, even in the heydays of Australian cricket. The Australian team is still reeling after the loss of many world class players in the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, and others. Ricky Ponting one of the Australian greats has been struggling for form and the team is looking infuse fresh blood into their ranks thus it would be a tough few months for Mickey to say the least. Immediate rivals that Mickey and his team will face are New Zealand and India. India have overcome their lapse in form and the ODI champions are back on winning ways so the series down under would be very interesting.

Can Mickey Give Australia its former glory?

Whether Mickey and his smart moves reinstate Australia as a cricketing powerhouse over again only time will tell! For now we can only hope for the best.