Is Mickey the right man for the job?

The appointment of a foreign coach for the first time in their cricketing history is an admission by Cricket Australia that they are no longer the fountain of all knowledge as far as cricket is concerned. This is a paradigm shift in the Australian game. I didn't think that this would ever happen.

This decision will have a further spin-off in the coaching world internationally as well. Australian coaches have dominated coaching appointments worldwide for too long. The decision now that none of the local candidates were good enough to take the Australian team forward may well change the thinking on the world stage regarding the suitability of Australian coaches on the world stage.

The Australian coaching position was the last appointment in a series of new positions that became available after the review into the Australian game. Before the actual individual was appointed, Cricket Australia thought long and hard about what type of personality style they needed to lead the coaching team at national level.

The decision at the conclusion of the review was that the Aussies wanted to return to the good old days of Australian cricket and adopt the hard line that made them so successful.

The ideal candidate for this coaching style was Steve Rixon. He learnt his cricket and much of his coaching approach from the highly successful Bobby Simpson who coached Australia successfully for many years. It was thought also that captain Michael Clarke wanted a higher work ethic and more discipline. With all that in mind, Rixon was the strong favourite to get the job. What made Cricket Australia backtrack and go the diplomatic and non-confrontational route again is not quite clear.

Mickey Arthur must have interviewed better than the other candidates. The decision is even more puzzling considering that since Arthur has been coaching Western Australia, they have shown little if any improvement and their trophy cabinet is bare.

In Arthur the Aussies will get a passionate individual who gets on well with the players – particularly the influential senior players. He is a non-confrontational personality who won't ruffle any feathers. He will rely on specialist coaches to support him. His main asset is his man-management.

This is the style the modern player wants these days. The only coach among the top playing nations who differs from this and takes a hard, intense line is Andy Flower, who has been very successful with England. The other major coaching appointments have all gone to individuals who understand that their preservation in the role depends on how well they get on with experienced players in the team who call the shots.

It is interesting that a number of current international coaches have been recycled. Gary Kirsten coached India before South Africa, John Wright also coached India before taking on the current New Zealand job. Duncan Fletcher was with England before going to India. Stuart Law coached Sri Lanka before taking on Bangladesh and Geoff Marsh coached Australia before taking on Sri Lanka.

Clearly international coaching experience is a prerequisite for many of the cricket boards when they make coaching appointments. This is a fair enough policy.

Even more important, though, is to analyse the stage that a team is at before making the appointment. If the team is in a stage of transition with younger players coming through, a more intense, disciplined coach is the requirement. If the team is experienced and successful, a man-manager is the correct option.

Australia is in the developement phase, so whether Arthur's style will work under those circumstances remains to be seen. A coach is also only as good as the talent available to him. At the moment the Aussies are not very strong. Arthur takes over at a good time in the sense that he doesn't have the finished article at his disposal.

No one is under any illusion that the current Australian team is nowhere near as strong as the great teams of years gone by. Any success he has will be a bonus in the short term.

Personally I like Mickey and I hope he does well with Australia. He left the Proteas prematurely under a cloud which was a pity. The Aussies will give him leeway but not too much. Soon they will expect results. Let's hope for Mickey's sake they come in a hurry.