Mickey Arthur set to start work at Derbyshire in February after visa issues

Arthur was originally expected in late November but issues relating to his visa, coupled with a positive Covid-19 test and subsequent self-isolation, have led to a delay of more than two months

Derbyshire are finally expecting head coach Mickey Arthur to begin work at the Incora County Ground in early February after a series of obstacles delayed his arrival.

Arthur was originally expected in late November but issues relating to his visa, coupled with a positive Covid-19 test and subsequent self-isolation, have led to a delay of more than two months. He is currently in Dubai.

It is not an ideal situation for Derbyshire, who are seeking to rebuild after a disappointing 2021 campaign. Arthur has been making the best of the circumstances, working remotely to plan training sessions with his coaching staff.

^{Mickey Arthur's arrival in Derby has been delayed by two months (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

He has also held one-on-one conversations with every member of the first-team squad, while the group's training sessions at Loughborough have been filmed and sent to Arthur to view.

"I would love to be in Derby right now with the boys, I've been in constant contact with the guys, working through gameplan strategies and brand of play," Arthur told the club's website.

"In December, when I was still in Sri Lanka, I went to get my visa. I had all my paperwork setup correctly, but I only had one page left in my passport, which I thought was good enough to put a visa in, but they turned that down and said I couldn’t.

"That led to a process of getting a new passport as quickly as I could, which has now arrived, and I have my final appointment [on Friday] for my work permit to be processed.

"Everything is under control and, hopefully, within the next seven to 10 days, I will be in Derby and cracking on with the standards of an international cricket team.

"I feel I have done as much as I possibly can away from the group."

^{Shan Masood will be joined by an overseas pace bowler at Derbyshire (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)}

Arthur has already added experienced Pakistani batsman Shan Masood to his squad for all formats in 2022.

There is still room for Derbyshire to add to their ranks, and the club are expected to announce the signing of an overseas seamer in the next few days who, like Masood, is due to join on a season-long, all-format contract.

Further new faces may well arrive for the T20 Blast, with Arthur having made recommendations to the Derbyshire cricket committee.

"I've given a direction and brand of how we want to play, and I'm building a team around what we have at the moment, and what we think is lacking," he said.

"Certainly the thing I don't want is for players just to be coming in and out. This is why Shan Masood is a really good signing. He's not currently in the Pakistan setup and he wants to use his performances for Derbyshire to get himself back in.

"There's a lot of excitement and anticipation as to what we, as a collective, can achieve."