I'm still not expecting any change at Derbyshire, because I feel the county has backed into a corner from which it will be difficult to extricate itself.
But the Head of Cricket needs to take ownership of the current situation at the county.
When he arrived he was bullish. He remains so, it's what he does. But remember when he told supporters to judge him when he had HIS team?
Well, every player who turned out for the county in 2026 was either signed by or given a contract extension by Mickey Arthur. By extension, we must assume he has got HIS team and so it was only fair for 'ignorant' supporters to judge him on that basis.
People are entitled to those opinions, as long as expressed without undue hostility or rudeness. That's where I come in on here, filtering anything inappropriate (though there hasn't been much) and ensuring criticism is valid.
Again Mickey told us that he intends to reflect but he has had success around the world and, if he keeps doing what he has always done, it will come at Derbyshire. The timescale wasn't mentioned and I would quite like not to be in a care home by that stage..
He is neglecting the fact that his success has come as cricket supremo at national level. He hasn't had to develop players, he merely picked the best of those developed by others. If they didn't do the business, it was simply a case of sending them back for someone to mend and picking someone else. The cricket equivalent of a trolley dash, perhaps, where you ensure you pick up the good stuff.
I would argue that is a considerably different and in some respects easier gig than that of a bona fide county coach. There, you have to develop players, nurture them, celebrate the good times and help them through the bad, build them up and keep them focused. John Wright said as much, comparing his time at Kent and his time in charge of India. 'I just need to make sure all the practice balls are there', said John in his trademark deadpan style. There's not much you can tell Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Sehwag, after all.
But at this stage the overwhelming evidence is that Mickey doesn't have that county coach skill set. If he had, surely we would have seen the evidence in five years? There might have been a more obvious pathway to the senior ranks than there is? We might have seen Nick Potts emerge before he was 24 and Rory Haydon get opportunity in something other than adversity?
He cannot expect supporters to be happy, after five years when progress has been akin to that of an especially arthritic snail on bumpy terrain. Many judged him after three years, a few more after four and the rest now, after five. He was silly to use the word 'ignorant'. And I am choosing my words wisely, because like many others I am not ignorant...
My concern is that if he is talking in such disparaging terms about supporters, what is he saying within the confines of the dressing room? There have been a couple of incidents within his tenure that suggests it might not always be pleasant and those who have heard him berating the team after a loss have been quite shocked.
Is that what you would call a productive environment? I wouldn't and while I appreciate that tempers can fray in any work situation, how a manager deals with it largely dictates the ethos and productivity of it.
The best managers keep people on an even keel, they are fair, easy to talk to and responsive to challenges. If Mickey is losing his cool with players, he has shown he cannot then switch persona and give good interviews. For that matter, nor should he try to.
Cliff Gladwin was volatile and anyone who dropped a catch off him got the sharp end of his tongue. But it was forgotten as soon as they went off the pitch. Eddie Barlow never lost his temper, but after a bad performance would tell his team they would talk about it tomorrow, with clear heads, away from the heat of the moment.
Cricketers are no different to anyone else. They know when they have had a bad day and don't need someone berating them, as they don't do it deliberately.
Maybe that's the way forward. Providing a more relaxed, nurturing, encouraging environment in which players are encouraged to express themselves. Dermot Reeve was very good at this and people produce their best when unafraid of the consequences of their worst. Maybe Mickey stays out of the dressing room and leaves the pep talks to the other coaches, who strike me as more level-headed, easy-going guys, ones you would strive to impress. Focus on recruitment, talent-spotting, contracts and leave the inter-personal stuff to those who are better at it.
I'm not going to write about this again, my life is too short. Honestly, I think Mickey could take a chainsaw to the crooked spire at Chesterfield and get away with it. But I will maintain to my last breath that giving him a two-year extension was one of the most illogical things the club has ever done.
Players might want to play for Mickey Arthur, but if you provide the right environment and pay the going price, most of them will go for the opportunity, regardless of the coach.
Plenty of good players came through the doors before Mickey.
And they will do so long after he's gone.
If players really want to play for MA I can only assume it’s because they get a very easy ride. When was the last time he actually dropped someone from the team. He only ever changes the team because of injuries. If indeed he does shout and swear at the players that makes it even dafter because if you continually do that but carry on picking the same players it must be to use another of his phrases like water off a ducks back. I personally wouldn’t want him to run a pub side and along with I expect most other followers of Derbyshire can’t wait for him to leave
ReplyDeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete--first: we hear a lot about MA's international success (which I suspect is mainly rather hubristic self-promotion), but WHAT success exactly has he had since his first coaching job, of an SA team which had already been extremely good for several years?
He took over an Australian side in the doldrums, and certainly didn't make them worse, but I don't remember him making them a lot better--and he fell out disastrously with several leading players, which probably cost him his job. He took over a Pakistan side who were, if I remember correctly, no. 1 in the test rankings already--and they won the Champions Trophy under him...but that was immediately after the retirement of a captain who had transformed the side and who I suspect was a considerable part of the culture which led to that success. Under the following captain, they gradually declined from that peak. He did relatively little with Sri Lanka, who didn't think he was worth offering a contract extension--so was he, for example, a better SL coach than Chris Silverwood or Chandika Hathurasinghe?
--second, about the comment itself: MA of course has the right to be frustrated, to say that some criticism is over the top, or to say that it possibly ignores mitigating factors. But to describe the club's supporters IN GENERAL as ignorant just for airing criticism when the club has been flatlining for five years (I repeat, the ONLY county in the time of his tenure not to spend any time is Division 1, and also the only one of what you might term the habitual Div 2 counties not to win one of the one-day competitions in that time) is flabbergasting. It's arrogant, self-obsessed and self-serving, boorish and disrepectful. Given the mountain of evidence which suggests that he hasn't achieved anything positive, it's also moronic--which suggests that his judgment about cricketing matters, as well as about matters of manners and respect, is somewhat suspect.
Derbyshire don't need to be spending heaps of money on a coach, or a man, like that. At the very least, they could pay an inexperienced, unknown coach much less to achieve the same thing. If MA doesn't have that kind of basic cricketing judgment, county coaching quality or basic respect for the people who, to some measure, pay his wages, he should be sacked forthwith.
Of course the spire will straighten before that happens, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen.
Dave
Fantastic post and one of your best ever IMO. We know that people can over compensate when under pressure but the arrogance of those comments in the context of 5 largely wasted years (at no doubt a pretty penny) is just jaw dropping and the misreading of the room is terrifying in a role where the psychological man management aspect is very important.
ReplyDeleteMake us credible promotion/trophy contenders, recruit well, bring 1-2 academy kids through a season, don’t fall out with key senior players, motivate the team and make them better versions of themselves….you know, do the things head coaches are meant to do. Granted not every coach does all those things every year
My view on 'Ignorantgate;has a slightly different take and with the words/phrases he chose,was premeditated,he knowing full well it would cause offence,as it has,in the hope,no doubt,that his services would be dispensed with,giving him the opportunity to save face & walk away with a contract pay off. Mac
ReplyDeleteExactly, Steve. You have summarised the situation we find ourselves in superbly. Thanks for this, for your end of term report and for reporting on the season with patience and clarity. I hope you feel able to continue .
ReplyDeleteChapel Guy
Thoughtful post, Steve. I like Mickey and, until the latter part of this season, backed him continuing as coach. But, on reflection, I think he is a great salesman when he does interviews (a bit like Trump), but there is a river as wide as the Congo between what he says and what actually happens.
ReplyDelete