The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday that it had been in talks with South Africa’s Mickey Arthur for appointing him as the head coach for the men’s team but added that the search would continue for now.

Arthur is currently coaching Derbyshire in English county cricket. He previously coached the Greenshirts from 2016 to 2019.

The current head coach of the men’s cricket team is Saqlain Mushtaq.

In the statement released on Tuesday, the PCB said it also discussed with Arthur a proposal to act as a consultant on a “time-sharing basis” with Derbyshire, with whom he has a long-term contract.

“Unfortunately, however, this option is proving difficult to materialise for various reasons on both sides.

“Under the circumstances, the PCB will continue its search for the right person to fit the slot of the national team head coach and some top names are already under consideration,” the statement said.

The development comes days after Ramiz Raja was sacked as the PCB chairman and Najam Sethi was appointed to lead a 14-member committee tasked with restoring the PCB 2014 Constitution, including revival of departmental cricket.

Pakistan’s coaching panel led by Mushtaq seems to be headed for the exit door too as Sethi has said he believes foreign coaches are more suited to the national team as compared to local coaches.

“Foreign coaches are more qualified, skillful and have no affiliation with any particular player, while in our culture our coaches have soft hearts for a few,” Sethi, who had appointed the services of Arthur during his previous tenure as the PCB chairman, told reporters last month.

“In my previous tenure, we hired Arthur as head coach and we became number one in Test and One-day cricket besides winning the Champions Trophy [in 2017].”

However, Sethi had dispelled the notion that the current panel would be rendered jobless.

“It does not in any way mean the services of our star cricketers will not be utilised and we will take the benefits of their expertise in different ways,” Sethi had said.