The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the departure of three seasoned coaches from their roles at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore.
The notable trio, comprised of Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn, and Andrew Puttick, bid farewell to their coaching positions within the Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team, a change that took effect after the conclusion of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in November 2023.
The restructuring came on the heels of Pakistan’s decision to revamp their coaching staff, ushering in a new era for the team. The experienced trio—Arthur, Bradburn, and Puttick—were subsequently reassigned to roles within the NCA.
Mickey Arthur, who previously served as the Head Coach from 2016 to 2019, returned for a second stint with the team in April 2023, this time as the Director of Cricket.
Grant Bradburn, having previously held the position of fielding coach from 2018 to 2020, assumed the role of head coach in the past year. Andrew Puttick served as the batting coach during this period.
Reflecting on Pakistan’s performance in the past year, the team faced a mixed bag of results across different formats. In Test matches, they secured a draw against New Zealand at home, whitewashed Sri Lanka 2-0 away, but concluded the year with a series loss to Australia.
The T20Is presented challenges, with Pakistan suffering their first-ever bilateral series loss (1-2) to Afghanistan and managing only a draw against New Zealand.
In ODIs, Pakistan was a contender for the top spot, even reaching No.1 in the ICC Men’s ODI Rankings. However, their success did not translate to the ODI World Cup, where they lost five out of nine games, failing to reach the semi-finals.
Post the World Cup exit, Pakistan underwent significant changes, including alterations in captaincy and coaching staff. As a result, Arthur, Bradburn, and Puttick were reassigned to the NCA.
Taking charge in this new phase, former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez assumed the role of Team Director and Head Coach for the Test series against Australia.
The coaching staff for the series includes Adam Hollioake as the batting coach, with Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal sharing responsibilities as bowling coaches for fast-bowling and spin-bowling, respectively.