Mickey Arthur slams Pakistani ODI cricketers for poor show in England

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur is unhappy with the recent progress of the national team players in the ODI format. After a successful Test series against England which ended 2-2, the Asian’s are down 0-4 in the on-going ODI series, which includes conceding the highest innings total ever in a One-Day International.

Pakistan recently went to the top of the Rankings table in the 5-day format but is lying low at 9th in the ODI format, and is in fear of missing out on direct qualification for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Pakistan was beaten by the Three Lions by four wickets in the 4th ODI at Headingley on Thursday.

Arthur who is quite worried about the position of his team in the rankings and highlighted the tough set of games his team have to deal with. The South African was quoted by Wisden India as saying, “It is what it is. I hate the phrase, but we are No. 9 in the world and we can see why.

“When I saw the fixture list, the games aren’t easy. We’ve got two series against West Indies that we have to play well in – West Indies are a decent one-day outfit. Between them we are sandwiched with an ODI series in Australia which is incredibly tough,” he added.

The South African reached great heights as a coach with his home country during his stint with the Proteas and also enjoyed considerable success with the Australian Cricket team as well. As per the new norms of the upcoming curtailed 10-team 2019 Cricket World Cup, only the top 7 teams will be given a direct qualification for the showpiece event in 2019, while the remaining 3 spots will be decided in a play-off scheduled to take place in Bangladesh two years from now in 2018.

Arthur lauded the English Cricket team saying that the side is filled with power-hitters, which is clearly evident from the 444-run record-breaking innings a few days ago and also admits that Pakistan lack the players to win a match against such an opposition.

Regarding this matter, he said, “We haven’t been able to get quick starts and clear the ropes. We just don’t have the players to do that within our group of 15 at the moment. I look at the strikers England have at their disposal – it’s unbelievable.”