ssar Nazar [NCA head]. So I can pick up the phone at a | Forum

Read part two of the interview hereThroughout the 70 minutes of this interview, Mickey Arthur never lost his smile. New Balance 574 Mens Sale . We met in the Pakistan team hotel in Manchester, where Arthur had just arrived after a strenuous training session on the eve of the T20I at Old Trafford, which Pakistan would go on to win handsomely the next day. Despite his easy disposition, Arthur was honest, blunt and realistic about Pakistan cricket, the structure, the players, their habits, the lack of discipline, and how he aims to establish a culture of excellence.In the little time you have spent with Pakistan, is this the most difficult job of your career? No. It is not. It has been fantastic. It is frustrating at times because we were almost starting from a very low base in terms of structure, player plans, injury and fitness assessments etc. But the scope of the job is so good and so broad. I really do enjoy it.We are trying to create a culture of excellence. To create that culture has been tough. It hasnt been there in Pakistan cricket for a while - whether that is cultural or a product of the environment, I am not sure. But we are getting very structure-based. Low fitness levels will not be tolerated. If we want to catch up with the rest of the world, certainly in one-day and T20 cricket, we have got to be doing those little things well. So its been lovely, fantastic, exhilarating, but also frustrating.You have marked your priorities already, but before we dive into them, firstly what made you take up the job? When I lost the job with Cricket Australia, I almost felt I had unfinished business to do. I felt that my reputation with South Africa and internationally had been very good. And then you lose your coaching job, it is tough. It kept me three years out of it.I really missed the adrenaline rush of international coaching. [But] I kept myself in the coaching loop: I coached in the Bangladesh Premier League, Caribbean Premier League and the Pakistan Super League. That pricked my enthusiasm again for the international job. So when this Pakistan job came up, because I had coached in the PSL, I thought it could be quite a good one.What were you asked during the interview? Nothing really. I just had a phone call and they [PCB] asked me if I would like to do it. I didnt have an interview as such. There was a little paper you had to write on and that was it.Were you given a blank slate? The chairman [Shaharyar Khan], executive chairman [Najam Sethi], and COO [Subhan Ahmed] had given me almost a blank piece of paper to come in and create a structure and get Pakistan cricket back to where it should be. Success needs to be measured with team success, but also down the line with structures that have been created and standards that have been put in place.I have been really disappointed with players who have joined this tour [ODI squad] unfit. But that has just been the norm. That wont be tolerated again going forward because now everybody knows what the minimum requirement is.Barring Bob Woolmer, Pakistan players, media and fans have rarely warmed to overseas coaches. Do you reckon you started from a point of disadvantage? I spoke a lot to Bob when I was coaching South Africa and he was in Pakistan. Bob loved every minute of coaching Pakistan. He loved the people, and I can see why. The people are fantastic. It is just that they need to be pushed and challenged all the time. Otherwise they get into comfort zones very easily. I am trying to create an environment that does that: stimulates them, lets them enjoy their cricket and have fun, but also challenges them. Those three things are so important.Does that style suit your coaching philosophy? Yes, it does. I intend to be pretty much a hands-on coach in that I like the challenge of creating those environments. It worked fantastically well working with Graeme [Smith, in South Africa]. It didnt work that well with Australia. For me, coming in and building a team is something that I really enjoy. I enjoy seeing young players given the opportunity and then perform and go on to have fulfilling careers.You said this elsewhere about coaching Pakistan: Its totally out of the comfort zone. Its cricket Ive never played and never coached - what a treat! Can you expand on those thoughts? It is out of my comfort zone because you are coaching a completely different nation. It is not like coaching Australia or South Africa. That was particularly hard, but culturally [in Pakistan] it is very, very different. So it challenges me as a coach every day. Every night before going to bed I analyse: have I done well, have I been too hard, too soft on the players, have I stimulated them enough in training, was the practice session good, did I deliver the right message?Generally with the nations I have coached, you get a feel straightway, because culturally it is very similar for me. But with Pakistan it is different. I am working with good skills, good talent and a population that is very demanding and very passionate about their cricket. You put all that in the melting pot, it becomes fantastic.Sometimes I look at myself and think: have I been too hard in terms of pushing and challenging the players? But I only think about that for five minutes and then I say I am doing okay because they need to be pushed and challenged.I have found with this team that you have to continually be driving home those standards. I have probably been the toughest I have ever been in my coaching career with Pakistan for the simple reason that it is needed. Hopefully it is taking the team in the right direction, but more importantly it is teaching good habits that go with professional sport.When you took over the job you said you were excited about working with individual players as personal projects where you can help them evolve and improve individually. You said you are good at that. There are many in the Pakistan set-up who could benefit from this kind of personalised treatment. It is almost what Woolmer did with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali are good examples. What you need with them is, they go back with the fitness programme, they go back with an injury assessment, with a total assessment on how they are physically, mentally and technically. So we send those reports back to the NCA [academy], which then takes over the coaching and the monitoring of those players while we get another set of players for the ODIs and T20Is. When the players are not with us, they are directed by Mudassar Nazar [NCA head]. So I can pick up the phone at any time and say, Mudassar, tell me hows Sohail Khan doing? What is his fitness level? How many overs has he bowled this week? And the front arm that we wanted to work on, what is that looking like? Is that allowing him to drive through the crease more? In other words, we hav