Umar Akmal says Mickey Arthur verbally abused him in Inzamamul Haq's presence

LAHORE: Cricketer Umar Akmal on Wednesday accused Pakistan Cricket Team’s head coach Mickey Arthur of verbally abusing him and throwing him out of National Cricket Academy, ARY News reported.

Speaking to media in Lahore, the middle-order batsman who was dropped from the Pakistan’s Champions Trophy Squad, said that the head coach not only used foul language but even asked him to play in some club team instead of coming to cricket academy.

He maintained that he was dropped out of cricket academy after being given “unnecessary warnings” by the coach.

Akmal claimed that the ugly episode was witnessed by chief selector Inzamamul Haq and a number of other senior players but none stopped Arthur.

He also requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take notice of coach’s behaviour.

‘Earn the Right’

Mickey Arthur has rubbished all the allegations leveled by Akmal and said that he only asked Umar Akmal to improve his performance.

“Umar Akmal wanted to use Grant Flower (batting coach) services, I told him he must first earn the right. I said go and play club cricket since he is not under a PCB contract anymore. He needs to prove himself before he uses our support staff,” said Arthur.

On the other hand, PCB has decided to issue a show cause notice to Umar Akmal over the presser.

Update: PCB to issue showcause notice to Umar Akmal.

— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) August 16, 2017

Umar Akmal had been in the news for wrong reasons throughout his eight-year career. He was arrested in 2012 after a scuffle with a traffic warden over a signal violation.

He was also involved in a spat with team-mate Ahmed Shahzad during the 2015 World Cup and the then head coach Waqar Younis recommended that both the players should not be included in the team for two years.

Umar was unceremoniously expelled from the team a week before the Champions trophy after he failed fitness test, seventh in a row.