Sacking Arthur was right call: Howard

Australia are in dire straits at 2-0 down in the Ashes, but high performance manager Pat Howard says sacking Mickey Arthur on the eve of the series was the right call.

Addressing a wide range of issues, Howard admitted Australia’s systematic batting problems “will take time” to rectify, and said Michael Clarke’s decision to step down as a selector hadn’t significantly altered his influence on what team is picked.

Howard said two weeks out from the Ashes, there were obvious issues within the team that had to be dealt with immediately, and players needed to be galvanised by a new coach.

He said Darren Lehmann was the right man for the job and deserves time to turn his influence into results.

“There were plenty of articles written about what was right and what was wrong. You knew there was something that needed to be dealt with and it was dealt with,” Howard said.

“You make decisions not just for one week or two weeks but you make them for a period and who is going to best galvanise the side.

“… who was going to get the best out of this group? That was a simple decision.

“The team have great resolve at the moment. They understand that the Nottingham performance was good and that the Lord’s performance wasn’t.

“But … I don’t think anyone thinks the wrong person is in charge.

“Coaches don’t get to make instant impacts but I can tell you when the players talk to the coach, they’re inspired and they see that opportunity to grow.”

Howard said Clarke was still intimately involved in selection and argued Australia had their best squad of players on the ground in England.

“The logistics of (selection) or the actual decision-making process – he’s (Clarke’s) in the room, he’s there, he understands what’s going on,” Howard said.

“Who’s being left out, who you’re concerned about? Because the team is reasonably well set, there’s nobody sitting at home which you’re particularly concerned about.

Australia collapsed to be all out for 128 in the first innings at Lord’s, and have lost wickets in clusters consistently through the series.

As Australia bid to become only the second team in Ashes history to fight back from 2-0 down to win a series, Howard admitted batting problems run deep, and can’t be properly fixed by coaches on tour.

He said the domestic Sheffield Shield competition needed to be improved as a nursery for Test cricket, so that batsmen are scoring regular hundreds.

“When Australia and Australia A over the same weekend play and the highest scores were Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques getting 60s and 70s (for the A team), our ability to bat a long time needs to improve,” he said.

“We need to work with the states to enforce that message around batting for a long time and batting with patience.

“Making sure Sheffield Shield cricket goes into the fourth day. So (pitches are improved), we start getting footmarks, we start getting spinners bowling more in the Shield so they get used to that as well.

“There’s a big process there to get right, and it’s going to take time.”