Mickey Arthur

Mickey Arthur was appointed Head Coach of the Pakistan National Cricket Team in May 2016, following a successful career playing and coaching teams around the world.

Mickey Arthur was coach of the South African national cricket team (Proteas) from 2005 to 2010 and the Australian cricket team from 2011 to 2013. He was also coach of Karachi Kings in Pakistan Super League and Jamaica in the Caribbean Premier League.

For many years Mickey Arthur has commentated cricket on the television and radio in Australia and internationally. An experienced corporate and public speaker, Mickey Arthur’s audiences have ranged from aspiring and elite cricketers and other athletes, through to executives, senior management and boards. He is comfortable in an intimate boardroom setting or speaking to large audiences at a conference, corporate lunch, breakfast or dinner.

Born in Johannesburg, Gauteng, Mickey Arthur played for both Griqualand West (1986/87 – 1989/90 and 1995/96) and Orange Free State (1990/91 – 1994/95). A right-handed batsman, he managed to score a total of 6,557 runs playing for Free State, Griqualand West and South Africa before hanging up his boots in 2001.

Mickey was the type of player who commanded universal respect through his dedication and always showed the attributes of being a good coach. He commenced his coaching career with Griquas in the South African domestic competition before taking over the Eastern Cape side in 2003. In his last two series as coach Mickey managed to guide the team to the finals of the Standard Bank Pro 20 Series. He was selected as coach of the South African national cricket team in May 2005, succeeding Ray Jennings.

Mickey had a tough introduction into international cricket as his first two Test series as coach happened to be against a rampant Australian team, both away and at home, during which South Africa was easily beaten. An injury-hit South Africa failed to make the finals of the 2005-06 VB Series, but they did clinch a tense one-day series win over Australia at home, which culminated in an iconic match at Johannesburg which has been acclaimed by many media commentators as being the greatest One Day International Match ever played. The match broke many cricket records, including both the first and the second team innings score of over 400 runs.

A home win over New Zealand was followed by a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka in the summer of 2006, where South Africa lost both tests and pulled out of a tri-series after a bomb exploded in Colombo. Successes then flowed with back-to-back Test and one-day series victories against India and Pakistan at home, which propelled South Africa to the TOP of the One Day International rankings. This was a major boost prior to the 2007 World Cup in which South Africa had a roller coaster ride that included dominant wins over England, West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, and a narrow win of Sri Lanka but lost to Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh which cost them the number one ranking.

The preceding two years turned out to be the best in South Africa’s test history. Starting with two home series win in South Africa against Pakistan and India. Mickey led the team through a series of nine unbeaten test series and a number of good One Day International results. This streak included wins against India, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh at home and away wins against England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and a credible draw in India.

In 2008 Mickey became the first South African coach to guide his team to a test series win in Australia. In 12 tours to Australia, spanning almost a century, South Africa had never managed to win a test series in Australia, but Mickey and the team overcame incredible odds to chase down a total of 400 in the first test in Perth. In Melbourne they won again and South Africa became the top-ranked team in Test cricket. Soon after, they became the top-ranked ODI team also.

After leaving his role of Coach of South Arica in January 2010, Mickey and his family moved to Perth, Western Australia where he took over as Head Coach of the W.A. State men’s team,(Western Warriors) in May 2010. After only 18 months in the role he was appointed as National Coach of the Australian cricket team in November 2011, one of the most prestigious positions in world cricket. He coached the Australian cricket team until June, 2013. Following subsequent international coaching roles for Jamaica in the Caribbean Premier League and Karachi Kings he was appointed Head Coach of Pakistan National Cricket Team in May 2016.

Mickey has his own cricket academy based at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia.

Mickey Arthur talks about:

• How to motivate teams and individuals.
• Six phases of leadership
• How to build a high performance culture in both sporting and corporate environments.
• How to inspire personal development and achieve goals
• Change management – dealing with change.
• Cricket anecdotes.
• Overcoming adversity/obstacles.

Alternatively, Mickey can tailor a presentation to suit your specific event requirements.