In a surprising turn of events, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore is witnessing a foreign coaching exodus as Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn, and Andrew Puttick have tendered their resignations from their respective roles. The trio had been assigned responsibilities at the NCA following a change in their roles after Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the World Cup 2023.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the resignations on Thursday, revealing that all three individuals had communicated their decision to resign from their roles, effective by the end of January 2024. The parting was described as amicable, with the PCB extending best wishes to them in their future pursuits and expressing gratitude for their contributions.
In April 2023, Mickey Arthur took on the role of Director of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, while Grant Bradburn was appointed as the head coach of the Pakistan national men’s side earlier in the previous year. Andrew Puttick, a former South African cricketer, had been serving as Pakistan’s batting coach since April 2023.
Before his recent appointment, Arthur had previously served as the head coach of the Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team from 2016 to 2019, achieving notable success such as securing the No. 1 position in the ICC Test team rankings and winning the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Arthur had also held coaching positions for South Africa, Australia, and Sri Lanka in international cricket.
Grant Bradburn, 57, had served as the fielding coach of the Pakistan men’s team from 2018 to 2020 before becoming the Head of High-Performance Coaching at NCA until October 2021. Under his tenure as head coach last year, Pakistan reached the No. 1 spot in the ICC ODI team rankings. Bradburn has recently left to join Glamorgan as head coach, signing a three-year deal set to commence next month.
Meanwhile, Andrew Puttick was the first to depart after being appointed as the batting coach of the Afghanistan men’s cricket team. As for Mickey Arthur, he is already serving as the Director of Derbyshire County and had been juggling dual responsibilities as the Director of the Pakistan men’s team.
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