Umar Akmal set to receive show cause notice over Arthur allegations

Discarded batsman's decision to tell media of Pakistan coach's alleged abuse backfires big time

Out-of-favour Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal has accused incumbent national team coach Mickey Arthur of abusing him and debarring him from training at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

While talking to the media on Wednesday, Akmal, 27, revealed that Arthur cursed at him in the presence of Chief Selector Inzamamul Haq and implied that other players have also been at the receiving end of the South African's foul-mouthed rants.

"Mickey Arthur abused me and used inappropriate words for me," said Akmal. "He has debarred me from the academy and told me to play club cricket. No player stepped in to ask him no to use such language for a Pakistan international. It's not befitting of Arthur to abuse Pakistani players."

Ball is in Umar’s court: Arthur

Akmal further said he was given a wrongful warning before the Champions Trophy and purposefully stopped from taking the fitness test, which led to his ouster from the team.

Moreover, he claimed that his recent trip to England wasn't unexplained and that Mushtaq Ahmed and Dr Sohail were aware that he had gone due to an injury.

The spat is believed to have occurred when Akmal showed up at the NCA to use batting coach Grant Flower's services, which is when he was told that only players with central contracts have the privilege of specialised coaching.

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In his defence, Arthur stood by his decision to not allow Akmal training privileges at NCA, saying: "He wanted to use Grant Flower's services for batting. I told him he must earn the right to use support staff and should first play club cricket. Nobody here should be taken for granted."

While Akmal wanted to launch a formal complaint to PCB over Arthur's behaviour, his use of media to make the incident public is instead likely to earn him a show cause notice from the board.