Ex-Proteas coach Arthur happy for Australia to pick his brains

PERTH - Newly-appointed Western Australia coach Mickey Arthur has said that he is more than willing to offer any intelligence on the South Africans to the Australian cricket team.

The former Proteas coach was appointed Warriors coach for three-years yesterday, but Cricket Australia hopes his influence on the game in Australia spans beyond the domestic.

“I am in the Australian structure right now and any help I can give to [Australian coach] Tim [Nielsen] and the Australian team I certainly will,” Fox Sports quoted Arthur, as saying.

“I would like to say that Tim and I were good friends. We discuss a lot of things, and we spoke of our roles, which were exactly the same. The guys will just have to ask, but right now my immediate focus is on the Warriors squad and getting it competitive and getting that edge back,” he added.

Arthur was always favourite to take over from Tom Moody, and his affection for Perth was solidified during tours with South Africa that included the record-breaking 414 run-chase to beat Australia at the WACA Ground in 2008.

But his new role in Perth started in tumultuous fashion. His interview last month coincided with the city’s worst storm in almost 50 years. Driven around the WA capital as hailstones battered vehicles all around him, Arthur was then forced to sit on the tarmac at the airport for hours as the weather cleared.

“I got caught up in the worst disaster ever in Perth, so I was not sure if that was a good omen or not,” Arthur said. “I have seen the best and worst of Perth now.”

Arthur won the Warriors post ahead of 19 other applicants, which included Justin Langer, Geoff Marsh, Geoff Lawson and John Wright.

He said the Warriors team he takes over, which has made just one domestic final in three years, is in a similar state to the South African side he took over in 2005.

“It is a team that has under-performed a little bit of late, and we will have to get in and try and fix that,” Arthur said.

WA skipper Marcus North, whose debut Test century came in Arthur’s last series in charge, welcomed a “fantastic” appointment. (ANI)