Cricket Australia's CEO James Sutherland says inconsistent results and a failure to oversee disciplinary standards led to Mickey Arthur's axing as Australian coach, with the former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann taking over for the next two years.
Little more than two weeks out from the first Ashes test in England, Sutherland and high performance manager Pat Howard sacked Arthur in Bristol yesterday with 20 months still to run on his contract.
Since his appointment in November 2011 Australia's winning percentage in all forms of the game has been about 50 percent, and the chief executive says discipline and accountability for performance need to improve.
Meanwhile the former Australian captain Ian Chappell says he has serious concerns about Michael Clarke's leadership going into the Ashes series.
Chappell says Clarke's a terrific leader and tactician, but he has serious concerns about his leadership off the field.
