ISLAMABAD – Former coach Mickey Arthur Thursday slammed Australia´s playersas “boorish and arrogant” and accused them and governing body CricketAustralia of being unwilling to improve the culture within the game.
The South African, the first foreigner to hold the post, was sacked on theeve of the Ashes series in 2013 and replaced by current coach DarrenLehmann.
Now coaching Pakistan, he said the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa,which saw captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner banned from allinternational and domestic cricket for 12 months, was the culmination ofyears of inaction.
“Despite generational change, independent reviews and too many behaviouralspot fires to list, Cricket Australia and the national team haddemonstrated no real willingness or desire to improve the culture withintheir organisation from season to season,” he wrote onwww.playersvoice.com.au.
“I have been bitterly disappointed watching the Australian cricket teamover the last few years. The behaviour has been boorish and arrogant.
“The way they´ve gone about their business hasn´t been good, and it hasn´tbeen good for a while,” he added to the website, where sportspeople can airtheir views.
Arthur, who was the national coach from 2011-2013, said he had tried tochange the culture within Australian cricket but was not able to.
The 49-year-old added that he was not blameless and there were decisions hehad made during his time that he would change.
Arthur´s tenure was marked by the so-called “homeworkgate”, when fourplayers were banned for one Test for failing to complete a written task setduring a disastrous tour of India in 2013.
Arthur said when he was in charge, he found the cricketers “were a law untothemselves” and the homework affair was a “microcosm of a problem thatremains with the Australian team to this day: the sense of entitlementamong the players”.
He welcomed the sanctions against Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft, whowas banned for nine months, saying Cricket Australia “needed to make astand”.
“Australian cricket has been in an ivory tower for too long. They had totake decisive action. If they didn´t, things would inevitably return to theway they had been and another major incident would´ve been inevitable,” headded.
Lehmann, whose long-term future as coach is in doubt amid a CricketAustralia-commissioned independent review into “the conduct and culture” ofthe team, told reporters in Johannesburg that Australia needed to changeits approach.
“The thing for me would be if we take a leaf out of someone like say NewZealand´s book, the way they play and respect the opposition,” theAustralian said.