LAHORE: Pakistan team head coach Mickey Arthur has brushed aside the allegations levelled against him by middle-order batsman Umar Akmal.

Following Umar’s press conference on Wednesday, Arthur denied that he abused the batsman, but the coach confirmed that he chastised him for using facilities at the NCA.

“Umar wanted to use services of [batting coach] Grant Flower for batting. I told him he must first earn the right to go and play club cricket since he is not under PCB [central] contract anymore,” Arthur said in an interview.

“He needs to prove himself before he uses our support staff,” the South Africa-born head coach added.

Arthur said he didn’t stop Umar from using NCA but only stopped him from using the services of coaching staff.

“I never stopped him [Umar] from using the academy, told him not to use services of our support staff until he earns the right,” Arthur revealed. “Umar cannot expect that the support staff, who are for contracted players, are at his beck and call. Nobody there should be taken for granted,” he said.

Meanwhile, a PCB official on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the Board would issue a show-cause notice to Umar for levelling serious allegations against Arthur.

“Though Umar is not a centrally-contracted player, as a domestic cricketer he has to follow PCB rules and regulations,” added the official while also denying the allegations levelled on the head coach by Umar.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017