Mickey Arthur formally announced as Pakistan team director in part-time role

Pakistan's new team director Mickey Arthur will only be available to the team in a limited capacity over the next ten months but he will be involved in designing and overseeing strategies remotely while he also fulfils his responsibilities as head coach of Derbyshire. His appointment was formally announced by the PCB in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Arthur is only one year into his four-year contract with Derbyshire and his reluctance to leave that role meant that it took months for him and the PCB to arrive at an arrangement to work part-time with the Pakistan team. Arthur will be available to Pakistan for only one game in this year's Asia Cup - against India - and will miss the tour to Sri Lanka and the series against Afghanistan in UAE. He will be available for the ODI World Cup in October-November, the away tour to Australia and home series against West Indies.

The PCB had also hired former South African internationals Morne Morkel and Andrew Puttick as bowling and batting coach, while Pakistan's former fielding coach Grant Bradburn is now the head coach. Assistant coach Abdul Rehman is the only Pakistani in the coaching group, which has been designed to facilitate Arthur working remotely as team director.

"I am pleased that Mickey has formally re-joined 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," the PCB's head Najam Sethi said. "Furthermore, he will also be responsible for strengthening the national team culture and 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."

Arthur's re-hiring wasn't straightforward. He wanted to stay on with Derbyshire while the board wanted him full time, and discussions stalled twice before both parties reached a consensus. At one stage, the PCB said it had moved on from Arthur, but negotiations were ongoing.

Arthur was Pakistan's head coach from 2016 to 2019, a tenure that included a Champions Trophy title in 2017 and during which Pakistan became the top ranked T20I team. They were not as successful in Test cricket under Arthur, and a league-stage exit from the 2019 World Cup led to him being replaced as head coach by former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

Arthur's reappointment was criticised by Misbah, who called it a "slap on Pakistan cricket."