The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has parted ways with foreign coaches Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick due to the team's recent underperformance, notably during the forgettable outing in the ICC World Cup 2023 campaign. Following discussions led by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf and chief operating officer Salman Naseer, negotiations for final settlements with the trio are reportedly underway.
The decision came after Pakistan were outplayed by Australia down under in a three-match test series and also Pakistan's fifth-place finish in the World Cup, failing to secure a semifinal berth, trailing behind India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Upon returning to Lahore from the tournament in India, the PCB informed Arthur, Bradburn and Puttick that their services were no longer required with the national team, prompting the trio, who were part of the team management during the Asia Cup and World Cup, to take vacations.
"After some consultations since Mickey is already with Derbyshire and Puttick and Bradburn have found new assignments it was decided to end the matter amicably and release them from their contracts," a PCB official said, as quoted by PTI.
Contractual Limitation Meant No Other Way For PCB
Initially, the PCB intended to reassign them to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as the board appointed Mohammad Hafeez as director of the Pakistan team, alongside a fresh set of coaches. However, it appears that the board discovered a contractual limitation—they lacked the contractual clause to mandate the trio to permanently work at the NCA, as their agreements were specifically for the Pakistan team and did not include provisions for a shift to the NCA.
According to the official, the PCB is also considering compensating the trio by offering payment equivalent to several months' salaries as part of their settlement. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that Andrew Puttick, the batting coach, had informed the PCB about his impending commitment with Afghanistan before accepting the contract.
Grant Bradburn, another member of the coaching trio, has communicated to the PCB that English county team Glamorgan has expressed interest in securing his services as their head coach. What’s also worth noting is that Mickey Arthur, Andrew Puttick, and Grant Bradburn were all appointed by the PCB during the tenure of the previous chairman, Najam Sethi, in April-May of the preceding year.