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Cricket Australia and Arthur reach settlement

Mickey Arthur has come to an agreement with his former employers © AFP

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Mickey Arthur and Cricket Australia have reached a confidential financial settlement over the circumstances of the former coach's sacking in June.

After lengthy conciliation talks at the Fair Work Commission in Sydney, Arthur and CA emerged on Wednesday evening to confirm an agreement had been reached following a protracted and at times ugly severance battle.

Arthur said he had accepted a "significant" reduction in his financial demands, which had reportedly been in the realm of AUS$4 million in compensation.

"For me this was never solely about the money, I just wanted to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect," he said. "I have significantly reduced my claim, as it is being settled tonight, and is not dragging on at any significant cost. Importantly I've been very mindful of protecting the Australian cricket team from any further publicity surrounding this dispute. With this fair and reasonable deal, we can now all get on with our lives."

CA said in a statement that the resolution had been timely: "Cricket Australia and Mickey Arthur are pleased to announce that they have reached a confidential settlement. Both Mickey and CA agree that it is unfortunate that the dispute was not settled prior to the issuing of legal proceedings.

"Both parties agree that a resolution now is in the interests of the Australian cricket team and cricket generally in Australia. Cricket Australia appreciates the efforts that Mickey applied to his coaching role, and wishes him the very best in his future career."

Details of Arthur's list of claims had been leaked two weeks ago, including damaging allegations about problems between the captain Michael Clarke and allrounder Shane Watson, plus the South African's allegations that he had been discriminated against due to his foreign background. The leak occurred as the national team prepared for the Lord's Ashes Test, which the tourists went on to lose by 347 runs.

Arthur was sacked at a meeting with the CA chief executive James Sutherland and the team performance manager Pat Howard in Bristol a mere two days before the official start of the Ashes tour. He was replaced by Darren Lehmann, who had been an assistant coach on the Australia A tour that preceded the Ashes.

Sutherland had admitted that Arthur was to some degree a "scapegoat" for the disciplinary and performance problems that had engulfed the national team in recent times, as a 4-0 hiding on the tour of India in February and March was followed by a poor Champions Trophy campaign that featured David Warner's suspension for punching the England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here

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