Mickey Arthur to move to Derbyshire after end of Sri Lanka stint

Arthur will stay with the Sri Lanka team till the end of their upcoming home Test series against West Indies

His contract with Sri Lanka Cricket was due to expire at the end of the West Indies series anyway. While Arthur had repeatedly expressed a strong desire to extend this stay, SLC is understood to have been largely unresponsive; there has not been a disagreement over pay, and Arthur may have stayed on if SLC had offered him the same package as before.

“This is the start of an exciting project at Derbyshire, with many young players, and I’m really excited to be a part of that and to bring my vision to the Club. It’s a new challenge and one which I’m eager to get stuck into and lead this Club to success,” Arthur said in a statement issued by the county. “There’s a good squad at Derbyshire and I want us to play a positive style of cricket, we won’t fear any team and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve for our supporters.”

This also means that SLC has now blown through seven head coach appointments in the space of ten years, with Geoff Marsh, Graham Ford (in two separate stints), Paul Farbrace, Marvan Atapattu, Chandika Hathurusingha and now Arthur having held the role since 2012. Arthur at least served out his contract; Marsh, Farbrace, Ford (in his second stint), Atapattu, and Hathurusingha didn’t.

Derbyshire chairman Ian Morgan said of the new appointment, “Mickey is one of the most highly-regarded coaches in world cricket and this is a key appointment for the Club ahead of an important winter period.

“Throughout this recruitment process, Mickey has understood our heritage as a county, but also matched our ambition with a desire to make a positive impact at Derbyshire.

“We want to move forward from last season. We’ve got a talented group of players and with a new Head of Cricket bringing a fresh approach, it is an exciting time for our Members and supporters.”

Arthur’s stint with Sri Lanka was split by the pandemic, during which he remained in Sri Lanka throughout, in order to work with the team when possible. There were mixed results under him, but also a strong focus on youth and regeneration – a tactic that seemed to be bearing fruit over the past few months.