Arthur denies South Africa's drinking culture

Mickey Arthur denies he's too soft on his players © Getty Images Enlarge

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, has denied the existence of a drinking culture within the national team. He was responding to comments in a confidential document prepared by former fitness trainer Adrian le Roux and revealed in the latest edition of South Africa's The Wisden Cricketer.

"Graeme [Smith] and I have a strict protocol that must be adhered to all the time, and there have not been many incidents where that [protocol] has not been adhered to," Arthur told the Cape Times. He said the section of le Roux's report regarding alcohol intake of the players had been blown out of proportion.

He said that the only incident relating to alcohol intake during the World Cup was when several players were seen drinking in Grenada after a defeat by New Zealand. "Not one player was out of line other than the incident in Grenada; they did everything they needed to do at the World Cup," he said. "I like to encourage the guys to celebrate now and again, obviously they shouldn't get out of line."

Reacting to criticism that he was too soft on his players, Arthur defended himself pointing to South Africa's good record in the recent past and said, "When I need to be hard, then I am."

Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa chief executive, said after the Grenada incident, the rules regarding a curfew had changed, as had other regulations regarding alcohol intake on tour.

"We are also in the process of finalising the appointment of a team manager," he said, "who will deal with disciplinary and code of conduct matters within the Proteas structure as part of his duties."