Mickey Arthur calls in the lawyers

Mickey Arthur, the former Australia coach, has hired a law firm in order to seek greater compensation after he was sacked by Cricket Australia last month. Arthur, who was on contract until the 2015 World Cup, was dumped in June and immediately replaced by Darren Lehmann, previously the coach of Queensland.

Having returned home to Australia where he had indicated he would continue to live, Arthur has hired a legal team to explore concerns about the manner of his exit. According to a report in the Australian, Arthur received no notice of termination or any suggestion that he was in breach of contract.

Arthur was sacked on June 24 over what CA called failures of discipline, consistency of behaviour and accountability. He is believed to have been given three months' pay under a severance agreement, and is pursuing a more significant amount. It is possible that CA and Arthur will reach a settlement to avoid going to litigation

At the time of his removal, Arthur had accepted responsibility for events that occurred on his watch, refusing to publicly criticise CA or his players. "The reality is when you take a job on as head coach you are totally responsible for the outcomes," Arthur had said in Bristol. "The players are a young group learning the way. I'm very structured in the way I go about things. I'm a man of principle, I try and get the team going in one direction because I firmly believe a team with culture is a successful team.

"I don't feel let down by the players at all. At the end of the day you live and die by the sword and I gave this job 100% of my time over the last couple of years. The disappointing thing is I thought we were nearly there to cracking it, I really do. I take responsibility for it."

Australia won 10 of their 19 Tests during Arthur's time in charge but he faced a few challenging times earlier in 2013, both on and off the field. The 4-0 defeat in India was overshadowed by the so-called homework sackings halfway through the trip.

The Champions Trophy campaign, in which Australia failed to win a match, was also dominated by events away from the game, when David Warner punched England batsman Joe Root in a pub. Warner was suspended until the first Ashes Test but the incident raised questions about player discipline in the Australian team.

A few days following Arthur's removal, the CA chief executive James Sutherland admitted that Arthur had been a "scapegoat" for the under-performance of the team. "To some extent, people will no doubt say Mickey Arthur is a scapegoat in this and, to some extent, he is," Sutherland had said. "But realistically, as head coach you need to take responsibility for the performance of the team."