Arthur to remain Derbyshire head of cricket until 2028

Mickey Arthur has signed a new two-year deal to remain as Derbyshire's head of cricket until the end of the 2028 season.

The 57-year-old former Australia, Pakistan and South Africa coach has been with the county since 2022 when he left his role as Sri Lanka boss.

Derbyshire finished third in Division Two of the County Championship last season, falling a place short of promotion to Division One.

Their efforts with the red ball failed to translate into similar results in shorter white-ball formats, with Derbyshire finishing bottom of their T20 Blast group and second bottom in the One-Day Cup pool.

It was Arthur's first season at the County Ground that Derbyshire enjoyed their finest white-ball campaign under the South African, having reached the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast.

"This is a special club and we are working every day to win silverware for our supporters and to get Derbyshire to that top table of county cricket," Arthur told the club website., external

"I'm immensely proud of the progress we have made, it's not always been easy and we've had setbacks, but I truly feel we are putting the foundations in place for sustained success."

Since moving to Derbyshire, Arthur has remained a coaching figure in high demand.

He had a spell working with the Pakistan national team again in 2023 while juggling his duties with Derbyshire.

Last year he also started to combine his role with being director of cricket of Hundred franchise Northern Superchargers, now known as Sunrisers Leeds.

Derbyshire chair Ian Morgan praised Arthur for his "incredible dedication and work ethic" at Derbyshire over the past four years and for being a figure capable of attracting player such as England spin bowler Shoaib Bashir and Pakistan seam bowler Mohammad Abbas.

"Having a world-renowned coach in Mickey, with his strong relationships and contacts within the game, means we are now attracting players who once may not have considered Derbyshire for their next move," Morgan said.

"Players are also less inclined to look for moves now, because they see working within our current structure as the best thing for their development."

Dave Fletcher, BBC Radio Derby, Derbyshire commentator

Derbyshire ended up third in the County Championship second division last season – their best finish in more than 10 years and this new deal for Mickey Arthur reflects that.

The fact they were still in the promotion race when it came to the final match of the season was a remarkable turnround from the previous campaign when they were bottom.

Of course, the unhappy pay off was a below-par T20 campaign after which a raging Arthur suggested he would be overhauling the way they went about the shortest form of the game.

The challenge the head of cricket faces is to maintain levels in the red ball competition while raising standards in the white.