[VIDEO] "Our brand has to be team first, before individuals": Mickey Arthur

[MenInG]

Mickey Arthur chats to Saj about wanting to implement an attacking brand in Test cricket, Babar Azam’s captaincy, Pakistan’s chances at the Asia Cup and World Cup, Mohammad Rizwan’s batting position in ODIs, responds to Imam-ul-Haq’s comments about selection, his excitement at working with Pakistan’s young talent, Pakistan cricket culture, the accusations of players putting individual performances ahead of the team.

[Mamoon]

Usual sound bites by Mickey with no substance. I would like to hear his assessment of Pakistan’s awful Test results on his watch and what will be different this time.

[MenInG]

#OnThisDay in 1968. Mickey Arthur was born in Johannesburg. Arthur took Pakistan to number 1 in the ICC T20I rankings and was also head coach when Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in 2017 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/7h3tCr5E94

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) May 17, 2023

[pakistani pride]

The culture within the team with personal milestones is deep rooted. Wont change. Unless major changes are done.

[Caved12]

I love Mickey and I think he is good for Pakistan, but not sure how much success is he going to have in this current set up where he is not exactly the head coach.

[Snowflake]

Usual sound bites by Mickey with no substance. I would like to hear his assessment of Pakistan’s awful Test results on his watch and what will be different this time.

Not everyone is fixated on the past and specifically what went wrong. There’s a lot to look forward to for Pak cricket, most will want to focus on that.

[Snowflake]

The culture within the team with personal milestones is deep rooted. Wont change. Unless major changes are done.

It’s not deep rooted yet. It’s only a very recent obsession by both players and fans. Can easily be rooted out by prioritizing results over all else

[Mamoon]

Not everyone is fixated on the past and specifically what went wrong. There’s a lot to look forward to for Pak cricket, most will want to focus on that.

There is nothing to look forward to in Test cricket. They don’t have the resources. The only format where things are shaping up nicely is ODIs thanks to a very effective top 3.

Mickey needs to be asked, or reminded, about Pakistan’s shocking performances in Test cricket during his previous tenure because it seems that he doesn’t care or is not aware of how much the Test team regressed under him.

[sam_ahm]

Lol, isn't that the case in any team game? Goes to show how messed up their thinking is, players and fans alike.

[Saj]

Lol, isn't that the case in any team game? Goes to show how messed up their thinking is, players and fans alike.

Well several Pakistani players have been accused of putting themselves ahead of the team and that's the point Mickey was addressing.

[pakistani pride]

It’s not deep rooted yet. It’s only a very recent obsession by both players and fans. Can easily be rooted out by prioritizing results over all else

Its very deep rooted actually. The so called main 2 players (Captain and Rizwan) are ultra obsessed with stats and personal glory. Captain has no vision, no idea how to move the team forward. Only busy scoring runs for himself.

[reversehook]

Right now our brand is Friends/Shaan first... hopefully it goes to team/deserving players first.

[Saj]

Its very deep rooted actually. The so called main 2 players (Captain and Rizwan) are ultra obsessed with stats and personal glory. Captain has no vision, no idea how to move the team forward. Only busy scoring runs for himself.

It's going to be an interesting period in Pakistan cricket.

I cannot imagine Mickey being bothered with individual stats - he just wants the team to win, whereas others might be more interested in personal achievements and milestones.

[sam_ahm]

Well several Pakistani players have been accused of putting themselves ahead of the team and that's the point Mickey was addressing.

I agree Saj. The thinking of the fans seems no different, many fans I've seen here care more about their favt player's ranking instead of the team ranking.

This mentality has to change.

[Kroll]

Big job on his hands then. PCT is like their own social club for some players.

[KingKhanWC]

Good interview.

Seems Mickey genuinely loves Pakistan cricket and will work hard to help Pak to more glory.

His point on structure for players is interesting.

[Blistering Barnacle]

I liked this interview and liked that Micky specifically gave an example of a quick 40 lower down the order being better than a sedate 70 at the top of the order in T20s.

He tried to be diplomatic about it, but it's clear that players going for personal stats is something he wants to sort out.

[Blistering Barnacle]

I also liked how he wants to change Pakistan's safety first approach recently in test cricket. I have hated how Pakistan has played tests lately. The Aussie series in particular was awful. Ramiz was the clown in that undertaking, so it's funny how he said appointing Micky was a clown move or whatever.

[shariqnoor]

While there is some merit to the notion that every player must play to the team's benefit and not for personal glory, I find this idea to be greatly exaggerated to the point where even a tremendous individual performance is relegated to the bin.

To be honest, I have yet to see a great player who is not selfish. Who is not selfish about his personal milestones. To his personal glory. To me, the reason why he has become a great player is because he is selfish to stand out from the rest of the pack whether in terms of runs or wickets or goals scored.

Messi, Neymar, Cristiano, Salah, Lewandowski all are extremely selfish footballers when it comes to scoring goals. There have been innumerable times when these players have refused to pass the ball to another player who is clearly in a better position to score. They would rather try and score a goal from an unfavorable position than pass the ball. The reason why they do that is because media always celebrates the goalscorer. Nobody cares about the beautiful build-up play that the teammates conjured up to set up a goal for Cristiano. Only the goalscorer gets the plaudits. History books will always glorify the goal scorer.

It's the same in cricket. Babar, Virat, Tendulkar, Lara are elite batsmen and they are all selfish by nature. It's their selfishness that has transcended their standings in the world of sport. Lara's 400 not out was the epitome of selfishness but history books will never reflect that. What history books reflect is that Lara is the only man who has not only scored 400 in an innings but also the only man to have broken the most runs in a Test innings record twice. Elite sportsmen thrive on this media glorification. It's like oxygen to them.

What can also be argued for is that selfishness is also inherently beneficial to the team in some situations. When Tendulkar got out in the 1990s, that used to be literally the end of India's challenge. So during the innings itself, was Tendulkar being selfish in playing for his score? Who is to decide whether selfishness was in the team cause or the individual cause? Except maybe after the event itself.

Selfishness to me is really intrinsic to greatness. You guys would know Bradman as the greatest batsman of all time. But how many of you know that Bradman played very little cricket on wet tracks because his logic was that his value to the team as its core batsman would diminish if he played on such tracks and that there were better batsmen in the team in such conditions. Isn't this peak selfishness? It kept his average inflated. But now wouldn't you categorize this as selfishness to the team's cause?

Also, why is your best batsman batting at number 4 in Test Cricket? The irrefutable reason is that it allows your best batter to bat at a time when the ball has gone old, doesn't swing, the pacers are off and your best batter can make hay when the sun is shining. Why not have your best batter face the most testing conditions in Test cricket? Surely you would have your best batter bat when the going gets tough as he's the one who should be most adept at countering the conditions. No?

So when people throw around the word selfishness, it's not always bad for the team's cause. Elite players will always be selfish. They are trained to be selfish. It's the one reason that they become elite in the first place. Some form of selfishness will always be good for the team.

[Firebat]

Only in Pakistan would that need to be said.