South African cricket has been rocked with the resignation of coach Mickey Arthur.

Whilst this has been brewing for some time, the relationship between Arthur and captain Graeme Smith has deteriorated to the point where Arthur no longer wants to be involved as coach. the two were said to have disagreed markedly during the recent English series in South Africa with differences in opinion in terms of team tactics.

It could not have come at a more inappropriate time, with South Africa due to leave on a tour for India very shortly.

“The timing is very unfortunate with an exciting two-Test tour of India coming up but the international cricket calendar these days means that there is never a good time. But all good things must come to an end and now is the time for someone else to take over” said Arthur.

In the meantime former South African fast bowler Corrie van Zyl will take over as caretaker coach for the two-Test, three-ODI tour of India next month.

It is also alleged that bowling coach Vincent Barnes has also been sacked.

Officials in South Africa have been unavailable for comment, but it is expected Arthur will make public the details for his resignation on Wednesday.

Former South African cricket captain and current commentator Kepler Wessels had this to say “There has been some speculation in the last couple of weeks, so it is not a total surprise. I still think it is sad, he did a good job for South Africa.”

The names of Kepler Wessels and current Proteas team psychologist Jeremy Snape have been linked as longer term coaching options for the Proteas.

Whilst I am not sad to see Arthur go, he did achieve some great things such as test series wins in England and Australia. However under his reign the Proteas were often found short when it mattered.

More worringly in my opinion is the fact that Smith seems to be running the show. He’s a good captain, but every side needs a coach, and someone needs to run the show. A player who gets affected by the emotion on the field is not ideal to be in total command.

Interesting times await South African cricket, and unfortunately it doesn’t all look positive!