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John Michael Arthur as Sri Lanka Head Coach: AN ANALYTICAL LOOK BACK

05 Dec 2021

     

By Revatha S. Silva

[caption id="attachment_177580" align="alignleft" width="355"] Mickey Arthur completed his two-year term as Head Coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team on Friday (3) in Galle. Photo SLC[/caption]

“Sad that it is the end of the road with Sri Lanka after the West Indies Test series! I have loved every minute of coaching this great country! To the players and people of Sri Lanka a big thank you! I know Sri Lanka cricket is in a better place now than when I started!” - Mickey Arthur

# The second and final Test against West Indies that ended on Friday (3) was Mickey Arthur’s last assignment with Sri Lanka

# With the 2-0 series win, Arthur ended his two-year term with the Sri Lanka team and he is expected to take up coaching post in Derbyshire county team in England soon

# Mickey Arthur’s coaching staff in Sri Lanka included Grant Flower (as Batting Coach), David Saker (Bowling Coach, who left the post early 2021 to take up Head Coach position or Melbourne Renegades at the men’s Big Bash League in Australia), and Shane McDermott (Fielding Coach)

# Later Piyal Wijetunga (Spin Bowling Coach since July 2021 India tour of Sri Lanka) and Chaminda Vaas (Fast Bowling Coach since March 2021 Sri Lanka tour of West Indies) joined the Sri Lanka coaching staff

# Arthur’s term (Dec. 2019- Dec. 2021) can be divided into two glaringly different periods - the first one from Dec. 2019 to July 2021 and the second from July to Dec. 2021

# Yes, Sri Lanka’s cricket is in somewhat of a better place now, compared to what it was when he took over as the Head Coach in Dec. 2019, yet to what extent did his coaching contribute to this telling improvement of Sri Lanka?

Here is an effort to delve into the matter from a statistical perspective.

(A) MICKEY ARTHUR OVERALL RECORD - 1 Dec. 2019 to 03 Dec. 2021

Mickey Arthur took over from Chandika Hathurusingha in December 2019 as Sri Lanka Head Coach for a two-year period (Dec. 2019-Dec. 2021) when he was under a short-term contract with Central Stags in the Super Smash T20 league in New Zealand since September 2019

57 Matches / Won 19 / Lost 31 / Drawn 5 / No Result 2 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.612*

Formats Breakdown:

* Tests - 14 Matches / Won 4 / Lost 5 / Drawn 5 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.8

* ODIs - 18 Matches / Won 7 / Lost 10 / No Result 1 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.700

* T20Is - 25 Matches / Won 8 / Lost 16 / No Result 1 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.500

(B) RECORD FROM 1 DEC. 2019 TO 5 JULY 2021 (UNTIL THE END OF ENGLAND WHITE-BALL TOUR)

The year 2020 saw the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. This over-one-year-long period saw no major structural changes taking place in the Sri Lanka national ranks. No major changes in the captaincies or the team. Generally Sri Lanka’s record across all three formats continued to be poor, only to derive huge criticism from the media and the public. It was all but an extension of the dismal run of the team that was evident since 2015 or so.

35 Matches / Won 7 / Lost 21 / Drawn 5 / No Result 2 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.333

Formats Breakdown - (from 1 Dec. 2019 to 4 July 2021:

* Tests - 12 Matches / Won 2 / Lost 5 / Drawn 5 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.400

* ODIs - 12 Matches / Won 4 / Lost 7 / No Result 1 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.571

* T20Is - 11 Matches / Won 1 / Lost 9 / No Result 1 / Win-Loss Ratio 0.111

(C) RECORD FROM 6 JULY 2021 TO 3 DEC. 2021 (FROM INDIA WHITE-BALL SERIES AT HOME)

Many structural changes took place in the national ranks in July 2021. Three leading players --Danushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella, and Kusal Mendis-- were banned from the game for disciplinary reasons. New top-order batters took up their places and established themselves in the team. National selectors went for a clear-cut youth policy whilst leaving aside a few leading seniors, especially from the white-ball formats. The national white-ball cricket captaincy went to Dasun Shanaka in July. Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Ramesh Mendis became some of the leading names to emerge, across the formats, during the last five months

22 Matches / Won 12 / Lost 10 / Drawn 0 / No Result 0 / Win-Loss Ratio 1.2

Formats Breakdown - (from 6 July 2021 - 3 Dec. 2021):

* Tests - 2 Matches / Won 2 / Lost 0 / Win-Loss Ratio 2.00

* ODIs - 6 Matches / Won 3 / Lost 3 / Win-Loss Ratio 1.000

* T20Is - 14 Matches / Won 7 / Lost 7 / Win-Loss Ratio 1.000

[caption id="attachment_177581" align="alignnone" width="456"] Spectators at Galle Stadium congratulate Arthur after Sri Lanka won the second Test and the series on Friday (3)[/caption]

(D) CONCLUSION

1. Mickey Arthur’s coaching record with Sri Lanka is improving drastically from July 2021 until December 2021

2. From 1 Dec. 2019 to 5 July 2021, the record is 35 matches, (only) seven wins, and 21 losses

3. From 6 July 2021 to 3 Dec. 2021, the record is 22 matches, 12 wins, and 10 losses

4. The Win-Loss Ratio improves from 0.333 of the initial period to 1.2 during the latter period

5. The “game changer moment” of Arthur’s tenure can be defined as Sri Lanka’s debacle in England in June-July, both on and off the field

6. Since the England debacle, the changes made in Sri Lanka cricket were not purely coaching, but (i) administrative (I.e.: introduction of new selection criteria), (ii) structural (I.e.: change of captaincy), as well as (iii) purely accidental (I.e.: three leading batsmen being videoed by a passer-by whilst they were smoking in Durham streets in the night after a huge Sri Lanka loss in the T20 series, breaching the stipulated Covid-19 bio-secure protocols, to face a one-year ban from the game)

Notes:

* The Win-Loss Ratio is found by dividing the number of wins by the number of losses. The ratio is more than the figure 1, only if there are more wins than losses

** ODIs=One-Day Internationals

***T20Is=Twenty20 Internationals

 


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