PCB 'almost there' to hire Mickey Arthur

KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Najam Sethi has said that discussions with South African veteran Mickey Arthur for taking over the team’s helm of affairs are nearing finalisation and an announcement will be made in the next two weeks.

On the sidelines of PCB’s partnership deal ceremony in Karachi, the de-facto chairman told journalists that 80% of discussions with Arthur have been finalised.

“We are almost there, I would say it is done 80%. We have discussed people who would be in his team and other aspects of his contracts. I think in the next couple of weeks everything will be in black and white,” Sethi said.

The former head coach of the Pakistan team, Arthur, was approached by PCB to take over as head coach of the team once again, however, it was not possible due to his commitments, which led PCB to offer him the role of team director.

The chairman of PCB's management committee refused to comment on the future of the Asia Cup and said his lips are sealed because it is an ongoing process.

"Nothing was decided in the last ACC meeting, we are meeting again in March on the sidelines of ICC meetings, we will see what happens then," the committee chairman PCB added.

Sethi reaffirmed his commitment to add more cities as venues for next year’s Pakistan Super League. He added that PCB will invest to uplift the standards of Quetta’s Bugti Stadium.

“I personally want to stage PSL matches in Peshawar and Quetta. We will see how things are by next year, and if everything remains smooth and infrastructure is ready, then we’ll have matches in these two cities as well,” Sethi said.

“It was a big challenge to host matches in four cities but my team did a tremendous job, hats off to them,” he said while referring to Usman Wahla and Naila Bhatti of the PCB.

Sethi also hinted inclusion of two more teams in future editions of the Pakistan Super League and bringing in more investment to make it a bigger brand than what it is now.