Head Coach Mickey Arthur arrives in Lahore

“Our Test team is very good at the moment but we need to improve our rankings in the ODI and T20I formats”, he said. “The idea is to find players who can be long-term servants and when we identify them, we need to invest [in them] and remain consistent with our selection and this is how the team will go from strength to strength”.

“(It has) massive attraction”, Arthur said.

“I just love the passion Pakistani people have for cricket and this passion can be found everywhere in the subcontinent”.

“If you haven’t coached in the subcontinent, you haven’t really coached”, Arthur said.

Pakistan will be eager for Arthur to emulate the success he had with South Africa. The former first-class cricketer also coached Karachi-based franchise Karachi Kings in the inaugural Pakistan Super League earlier this year.

“I don’t care if the team makes mistakes – professionals make mistakes”.

“I’m confident that in this role that we’ll get things going in the right direction and it won’t happen again”. “I think any team that fears failure is a team that struggles”. “It’s up to us to give our players roots to grow and wings to fly”.

“The strategy is to make them believe in their own abilities, make them believe where we are going to take this team and that belief comes over time, it just doesn’t start”.

Soon after his arrival in Lahore on Wednesday night, his first visit after his appointment, Arthur spoke to the media and explained his decision to take up the job by saying, “If you haven’t coached in the subcontinent you haven’t really coached”. However, Arthur said he was in constant touch with chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, and bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed before the team was finalized for the tour of England. “We need to make consistent selection choices in order to allow our players to improve”. “I have had fruitful discussions with all stakeholders”, he concluded. “Ultimately it’s the role of the selectors to name a team in consultation with me and the captain”.

The former South Africa cricketer added that he had chose to look after the team’s issues on day-to-day basis in order to improve their performance.

Speaking about the upcoming tour of England, Arthur said he would specifically focus on improving the results in limited-overs format. But in ODIs, Pakistan are at No. 9, and in T20s at No. 7. “Our ranking in Tests is fair – mainly because we have been playing in friendly conditions”.

“Fielding needs to ramp up a huge amount. we’re behind the rest of the pack in terms of fielding in global cricket”, he said.

“Amir is a fantastic professional”, Arthur, who signed a two-year deal with the Pakistan Cricket Board, said.