Image courtesy of: The Indian Express

Warne believes Cricket Australia made the right move by firing Arthur and hiring Lehmann

Former Australia spin king Shane Warne has announced that ex-coach Mickey Arthur’s claims in his private legal documents, which were recently leaked to the media and public, were “pretty disappointing” and sounded like “sour grapes” to him.

 Arthur claimed to have suffered racial abuse and scapegoating during his tenure as head coach, while also revealing that captain Michael Clarke saw all-rounder Shane Watson as “a cancer” on the national team.

“It sounds like sour grapes to me and it’s pretty disappointing,” Warne told Sky Sports. “He should have been grateful for the opportunity to coach the Australian team.”

Warne praised Cricket Australia for sacking Arthur and bringing in Darren Lehmann and added that Arthur needed to do some “homework” on his own.

“I’m one of Cricket Australia’s harshest critics at times but I think they’ve been very good after the Champions Trophy,” Warne added. “You’ve got to give a tick to the selectors for picking the squad they have. I think you have to give them big ticks for being proactive with (coach) Darren Lehmann. He’s a fantastic leader and I think that’s showing already; even though they’ve lost they’ve showed a better spirit in the team.

“So Mickey Arthur should maybe go back to ‘Homework Gate’. Maybe he should be writing some lines and some paperwork and send them into Cricket Australia.”

As a result of his termination, which came two years before his contract was supposed to expire, Arthur is allegedly seeking AUD 4 million in compensation.