Mickey Arthur: “Jason Gillespie is a wonderful coach, a wonderful man. Pakistan cricket just continues to shoot itself in the foot. It is its own worst enemy”
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Mickey Arthur said “Pakistan cricket just continues to shoot itself in the foot” after Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten both resigned as red-ball head coach and white-ball head coach respectively.
Arthur, who used to be Pakistan’s head coach, cannot believe the men in green let two excellent coaches depart in such a short period of time.
He noted that when the duo were appointed, he thought Pakistan would shine and become a force to be reckoned with.
However, things didn’t go to plan as Aaqib Javed took over as interim coach when Gillespie and Kirsten left.
In that time, the men in green were eliminated in group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy and endured a disastrous tour of New Zealand, where they were beaten 4-1 in the T20I series and 3-0 in the ODIs.
Gillespie even went as far as calling Aaqib a “clown” and saying he always felt things were going on behind the scenes during his time as red-ball head coach.
It should be noted that Aaqib is now Pakistan’s Director of High-Performance, while former New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson has been brought in as white-ball head coach.
Arthur admitted that he isn’t surprised about what happened to Gillespie and Kirsten, and pointed out that the Pakistan players will “lose out” on learning from two esteemed coaches.
“I love this quote, to be brutally honest. Jason Gillespie is a wonderful coach, a wonderful man. Pakistan cricket just continues to shoot itself in the foot. It is its own worst enemy. There are so many good players; they’ve got the resources now; there’s so much young talent,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“I thought when they signed Gillespie and Kirsten, they had gone down exactly the right route, and they had some really good players. Because ultimately, it’s the players who lose out.
“They had some really good coaches who could take them forward. But then, the usual machine that operates in Pakistan cricket kicked in – agendas were pushed, and media narratives were manipulated.
“It’s a jungle out there, and I feel desperately sorry for Gary and Jason. There’s no doubt they were undermined, and ultimately, it’s the players – and Pakistan cricket as a whole – who suffer.”
After the New Zealand tour, many of the Pakistan players featured in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which the Lahore Qalandars won.
The men in green then faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, which they won 3-0.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub