MICKEY Arthur's sacking says everything about the shambolic state of a cricket system trying to look tough when, in fact, it is as fragile as a diet biscuit. Just as was the case with the Homework Four in Mohali,
the decision to sack Arthur is a bit like a lax parent letting their kids run off the leash then, in a reckless attempt to recapture control, suddenly belting them over the head with a rolled up phone book.
What a shambles.
Australia's slipshod cricketers, David Warner in particular, owe Arthur an apology.
Had they shown him the respect he deserved this would never had happened.
I started to fear for Arthur a good man with honest principles the morning after Warner abused myself and Malcolm Conn on Twitter during the Indian Premier League.
Arthur told me Warner told him an hour before that he had not touched a drink in recent weeks in the IPL.
In the following weeks other players told Cricket Australia staff that information was incorrect and they were worried about Warner's attitude.
Had Warner not punched Joe Root in the head in England Arthur would have still been on trial this Ashes tour but not have lost his job.
A cringingly light penalty to Warner started a chain reaction which led to the coach's demise.
Cricket Australia's new independent board met in Brisbane the day after the penalty was announced.
Though no public statement was made after the meeting there was understood to be a theme of "where in god's name is this side going?"
This sentiment put extreme pressure on executive James Sutherland who has consistently lacked the courage to take strong stances against players.
As he has here. Sutherland could have send Warner home for punching Root.
Instead Warner could play the first Test and the coach's Australian career is over.
People may say Arthur was too soft for the job and it is true that when it comes intimidating auras, he was no Bob Simpson.
Yes, he could have been tougher. But he was no pussycat.
The spray he gave the Australian one-day team in England reportedly made paint peel from the walls.
Arthur would never admit it publicly but he is understood to have been aghast at the level of unprofessionalism of many Australian players compared to the self-reliant generally mature bunch he coached in South Africa.
Darren Lehmann should get the job and he should do well. But it won't be easy.
Behind closed doors Cricket Australia officials often say "we don't own the players anymore."
It's true. Mentally, many of them have moved on from the days when they would cringe at the thought of being disciplined by an Australian coach.
Now, with the IPL lining their pockets, they are citizens of the world owned by no one and some behave accordingly.
It takes a strong man to reel them in and one prepared to accept that when they lapse in standards he is the man who will end up being the one who pays with his head.
