Mickey Arthur surprised at criticism
Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach, has admitted that he is surprised by the amount of flack aimed in his direction following South Africa's World Cup campaign
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Arthur, who has been lambasted in some quarters of the media, told Beeld newspaper: "This has been the best year South African cricket has had. We achieved a 75% success ratio and had only one poor World Cup match."
South Africa played below par in the semi-final against Australia, losing by a seven-wicket margin, after scoring a paltry 149 batting first. But South Africa suffered a shock ,67-run loss to Bangladesh and a five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the Super Eights stage. South Africa lost 4 out of the 10 matches at the World Cup.
"When I took over we were the fifth best one-day team in the world. We rose to number one this year," he said. South Africa ended the ICC year, which ran from April 2006 to March 2007, as the leading one-day country in world cricket, edging Australia into second place by a narrow margin.
"How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand," Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had done
"Winning the ODI series at home against Australia and the way we came back after the shattering defeat in the first Test against India were the highlights for me. It's no easy task to coach the national team. I never realised to what extent one becomes the property of the people," he added."
"It caught me off guard. I was also surprised by the way one finds oneself in the media spotlight and how they analyse everything you do," he added.
Despite the anti-climatic semi-final against Australia, Arthur said, "Yet I believe we have reason to claim that we are, along with the Aussies, the best one-day team in the world".
"How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand," Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had done
Arthur is hoping for another stint as coach, despite calls for his removal. He said that he has started planning for the next season. He hoped for a quick recovery from captain Graeme Smith, who is due to undergo a knee operation on Thursday. South Africa resume their cricket when they travel to Ireland to take on the home team and India.
"Some players listen with one ear only", he said in response to criticism from Roger Telemachus that he was not honest with him at the World Cup. "He (Telemachus) heard only what he wanted to hear. Even before we left South Africa I made it clear to him that he was a substitute bowler. I never promised that he would play," he added.
Telemachus had spoken out after the World Cup, and is quoted as saying, "I'm not afraid to say that I am spitting mad. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. To this day I do not know why I did not get an opportunity to play." Telemachus was the only member of the 15-man South Africa squad who did not get a game at the World Cup.
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