Arthur, Bradburn and Puttick resign from PCB

The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that foreign coaches Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick have resigned from their respective roles with the national team as well as with the board.

The development came after the trio were assigned duties at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore following a change in their portfolios post the 50-overs World Cup in India.

All three, along with bowling coach Morne Morkel, comprised the main support staff of the Pakistan team until the World Cup.

But Pakistan's failure to advance to the knockouts saw PCB managing committee chairman Zaka Ashraf reassigning them to the NCA, to which the trio refused and instead went on vacations to their respective homes.

Morkel was the only one to resign immediately after the World Cup from his incomplete contract.

A reliable source in the board said negotiations were held with the trio for them to resign themselves, since as per their contracts, had the PCB terminated their contracts the board would have been required to pay them salaries for six months.

The source said once the negotiations were successfully concluded with Arthur, Bradburn and Puttick, they informed the board of their decisions to resign by the end of January.

The PCB said the decision was taken amicably between all the stakeholders.

Soon after the World Cup, once it became known that the PCB was no longer interested in having these three overseas coaches working with the national side, Puttick got an offer as batting coach from Afghanistan.

At the same time, Bradburn was offered a contract by an English county side whereas Arthur went back to his rule as the head coach with Derbyshire.

Meanwhile, the sports ministry has asked the PCB not to offer a long-term contract to its incumbent director of cricket Mohammad Hafeez yet, who came into the role after the 50-overs World Cup last year.

The PCB had sent a copy of the contract for approval to the ministry of inter-provincial coordination, which oversees the sports sector.

“The contract was for a long term period but the board was told to just continue with the short-term arrangement with Hafeez which ends after the T20 series in New Zealand,” a reliable source said.

According to insiders, Hafeez as well as the other new coaching staff members came on board only after the assurance of getting long-term contracts.

“Now it appears (that) this is not going to happen, and as it is, the performance of the team has also been very bad under Hafeez and the other coaches, as they have lost all Tests in Australia and now the T20I series in New Zealand,” an insider said.

Hafeez was named the director of the Pakistan team along with new coaches Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and foreigners Simon Helmot and Adam Hollioake for the Australian tour.

Another former Pakistan player, Yasir Arafat replaced Helmot as the high performance coach for the T20Is in New Zealand.

The new coaches came in after the PCB reassigned the foreign coaches Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick to the National Cricket Academy after the World Cup.

All three refused to take up the new assignment and went on vacations. They have now resigned after an undisclosed financial deal with the PCB.

Recently, the sports ministry also stopped the board's cricket management committee from holding a T10 league and as well as a meeting to form the new board of governors. PTI COR

PCB issues NOC to four players returning from injury layoffs

Mystery surrounds Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to issue NOCs to centrally contracted as well as non-contracted players to participate in the International League T20 and the Bangladesh Premier League in January-February.

The mystery stems from the fact that fast bowlers Naseem Shah, Ihsanaullah and Mohammad Hasnain along with experienced all-rounder Shadab Khan have all recently recovered from injuries and had sought NOCs for the BPL.

Pakistan's team director Mohammad Hafeez had requested the PCB ensure players who are returning from injuries must play at least one match in the ongoing President Trophy (first-class) in Karachi.

Subsequently, the four were asked to travel to Karachi and appear in the domestic matches.

However, when the PCB announced issuing NOC to the players, it had no mention of Shadab, Naseem, Ihsanullah and Hasnain being approved for the BPL.

Naseem suffered a shoulder injury during the Asia Cup and went for a surgery in London. He subsequently missed the ODI World Cup, the three-match Test tour of Australia and the ongoing T20I series in New Zealand.

Similarly, Hasnain and Ihsanullah last played for Pakistan in January and April 2023 respectively before sustaining injuries, with the latter requiring an elbow injury in Lahore.

Shadab had to miss the tours to Australia and New Zealand after picking up an ankle injury during the National T20 Championship late last year.

Meanwhile, the PCB confirmed that it had also issued the NOC to senior players Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf for the ILT20 and BPL leagues.