Through the wars, Arthur returns to where it began

Back in 2011, Mickey Arthur became the first foreigner to be appointed Australia's coach. His first Test in charge was at the Gabba, where David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja were all part of the XI. This week Arthur returns to the Gabba, now as an Australian citizen. Again Warner, Starc, Lyon and Khawaja will play, and again Arthur is coach. Only, now he's coach of Australia's opponents.

"A true gentleman," the Australia captain, Michael Clarke, called Arthur in the lead-up to that 2011 Brisbane Test. "To me it doesn't matter where you come from, if you're the right man for the job… then I believe you deserve to get it," Clarke said of Arthur at the time. Arthur got it, all right. Got it right in the back, on the eve of the 2013 Ashes. He was appointed to end a year of hand-wringing, navel-gazing and Argus-reviewing. He was ousted in a coup he never saw coming.

Now that Arthur returns to where it all started, he calls the whole experience surreal. Perhaps not in a Salvador Dali melting-clocks kind of way, but for Arthur the persistence of memory is no less vivid. For a year and a half, these Australians were his men. His fingerprints remain on the side. One of his final acts was making Steven Smith a late addition to the 2013 Ashes squad. In that series, Smith scored his first Test century, and the rest is history. But by then Arthur was history too.

In his last stretch as coach, Arthur's Australians lost a home Test series to South Africa and were crushed 4-0 in India. It is a scenario that might soon look very familiar to his successor, Darren Lehmann. Although Arthur concedes that he might have erred by suspending players in India during the homework saga, he says he did what felt right at the time. He also admits that some part of him views the upcoming series as a chance to prove Cricket Australia wrong.

"Of course there's a part of me that feels that," Arthur said. "And I wouldn't be honest if I said otherwise. I always maintained that I loved my two years with Australia and I was very fortunate to be able to coach the Australian national team. I loved the first year and a bit of it - that was outstanding and I thought we made some significant progress.

"But yes, there is a part me that's coming back and wants to show that. But I've said it numerous times - the series isn't about me versus Australia. The series is about two very, very good cricket teams going head to head, and I hope that can be the focus for the remainder of the tour because that's exactly what it is."

And yet, as much as Arthur would like to shift from his own past, it is impossible to ignore the history. Starc, who debuted in that same Gabba Test that marked Arthur's first game with Australia, said on Sunday that the current squad was "a lot closer" under Lehmann than Arthur. Lyon expressed a similar view on Monday, declaring Australia were now "one of the closest teams I've ever played in".

They are the kind of words that could hurt a man like Arthur, always jovial, always doing what he felt was right at the time. But nor are they surprising sentiments: during that period, the Michael Clarke-Shane Watson rift was playing out, and factions formed within the squad. Mitchell Johnson wrote in his memoir this year that he lost respect for Arthur after the homework sackings. Arthur, though, is pleased Australia are now in a better place.

"It's actually great to hear," Arthur said. "I'm not beating around the bush when I say the team wasn't very close in those times, but that was because of different characters. So that's good to hear, and everybody inherits teams at different phases in their cycle. I came into the team after a very unstable period in Australian cricket.

"The Argus review, there was a new director of cricket, a head coach, a convener of selectors and a captain all trying to find their way within a structure. So it was a tough period for Australian cricket - it was a tough time for all of us wanting to know what our boundaries were and how the whole jigsaw fitted in.

"And it was a largely insecure time for the players as well, because there was a lot of change coming about. Dave Warner made his debut here, Mitchell Starc made his debut here in my time. There were a lot of young players - Nathan Lyon was trying to make his way. Young Phil Hughes at that point was trying to make his way. So it was a tough period for everybody, and during tough periods people are insecure.

"There's no two ways about that, and you can't sugarcoat anything - that's international sport, and your currency is performance, so it's tough. And since then, the guys have matured, they've gone on and Mitchell Starc has become a world-class cricketer, so of course he feels more comfortable in his environment, obviously. It's just different phases, that's all."

Of course, much has changed since 2011, besides Arthur's dismissal. John Inverarity came and went as chairman of selectors, and so did Rod Marsh. Clarke, Watson, Johnson, Ricky Ponting, Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris have all retired. The assistant coaches have all moved on. Of the hierarchy that Arthur worked within, team performance manager Pat Howard and CEO James Sutherland are among the only survivors.

On field, Australia have had as many ups and downs as ever. Under Lehmann, there has been a 5-0 Ashes triumph at home, the lifting of a World Cup, and a return to No. 1 in the Test rankings. But there has also been the recent humiliation at the hands of South Africa, and a historic 3-0 series thrashing in Sri Lanka, which extended Australia's record in Asia to nine straight losses.

Lehmann's job seems secure for now - he is contracted until 2019 - but should his men capitulate in India the way Australia did under Arthur in 2013, the landscape could change. When losses accumulate, pressure builds, and as Arthur learnt, something's got to give. For now, he is happy to be back coaching in Brisbane, even if it is against his country of citizenship.

"It's pretty surreal really, to be walking into the Gabba," he said. "It's pretty surreal to be coming back as a visiting coach. But I guess that's how the cricket world operates these days and that's what happens. It's a ruthless world out there. To be coming back to the Gabba and to have a tour of Australia is fantastic."