Ramiz Raja slams Arthur’s appointment as Pakistan team director says this is as crazy as clown in village

Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) former chairman Ramiz Raja has slammed the appointment of Mickey Arthur as the national team’s director. Ramiz questioned the former head coach’s loyalty to the country’s cricket.

“A first-of-its-kind coach/director of cricket picked to run Pakistan cricket remotely, whose loyalty is first with his county job than Pakistan cricket.

This is as crazy as a clown in a village circus,” Ramiz said.

He also expressed his take on the PCB chairman Najam Sethi and his cricket management committee.

“A PCB chairman who doesn’t understand cricket, probably was not even good enough to make it to the XI in a club game, heads a cabal of political, petty-minded club runners for a management committee to run Pakistan cricket affairs, who are on a Rs 12 lakh a month salary,” Ramiz said.

A senior official of the board dismissed Ramiz’s claim of the cricket management committee members getting handsome monthly salaries.

“It is incorrect and as per service rules, management committee members get a meeting allowance and daily allowance and PCB provides accommodation for outstation members.”

Ramiz was replaced as PCB chairman last December. He has been quiet for a while, after initially lashing out at the changes in the board.

Sethi said the decision to bring Arthur was taken because of his past work in Pakistan cricket.

“He knows our cricket culture and set-up and is respected by the players,” Sethi said.

Arthur was the head coach of the Pakistan team between 2016 and 2019. He will continue working with Derbyshire and will travel with the Pakistan team when he is available from his Derbyshire duties. During Arthur’s tenure as head coach, there were controversies about his dislike for the Akmal brothers. He got into an argument with Umar Akmal at the high-performance centre, leading to an inquiry from the PCB.

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