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Cricket Australia has sacked head coach Mickey Arthur on the eve of the Ashes.
The former South Africa coach, whose contract was due to run until the end of the World Cup in March 2015, was informed of the decision over the weekend.
CA is expected to confirm his axing on Monday. It is not known who will replace him, although highly rated Queensland coach Darren Lehmann is in England and has just completed a coaching stint with Australia A.
Arthur came in for heavy criticism for his role in standing down four players, including then vice-captain Shane Watson, during the Test tour of India in March for failing to complete performance feedback on time.
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There has been a school of thought that the South African was not tough enough to oversee the generational change in the Australian team, and he has been made responsible for a team culture that has gone backwards this year.
The latest examples were David Warner’s twin run-ins with trouble – first on Twitter, then in a bar in Birmingham – which led to the opener being suspended until the first Test at Trent Bridge.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was furious at Warner’s conduct and understood to be also angry at the handling of the bar-room affair – in which Warner punched England’s Joe Root – by team management.
The decision comes as all of Australia’s squad converges for the first time in Taunton in England on Monday, for their first pre-Ashes tour match, against Somerset beginning on Wednesday.
Arthur was one of the major appointments in the aftermath of the Argus Review, which was ordered after Australia lost the 2009-10 home Ashes series to England.
He was then coaching Western Australia but was selected after a worldwide search for the newly created head coach and selector position – former coach Tim Nielsen did not apply for it – on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
The Ashes series begins on July 10.
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Article source: http://www.easternriverinachronicle.com.au/story/1592521/video-cricket-coach-mickey-arthur-sacked-on-eve-of-ashes/?cs=7