Australia coach Mickey Arthur sacked: report

SYDNEY: Australia's Ashes campaign with England was in turmoil Monday after coach Mickey Arthur was sensationally sacked, a report and sources said.

Arthur was dumped after a meeting with Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland in Bristol, the Sydney Daily Telegraph said.

A source confirmed to AFP the report was correct.

"James Sutherland and high performance coach Pat Howard will hold a press conference later today to discuss the coaching structure of the team," a Cricket Australia spokesman said.

It is unclear who will replace Arthur, whose contract was due to run until the end of the World Cup in March 2015, but Queensland coach Darren Lehmann is currently in England coaching Australia A.

Arthur appears to have paid the price for a poor Champions Trophy campaign and a lack of discipline within the team, which came to a head with the David Warner punch-up incident earlier this month.

Sutherland was furious and demanded the team crack down on bad behaviour.Warner was fined Aus$11,500 ($11,000) and suspended until the start of the Ashes series for punching England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar during the Champions Trophy.

Several others players were with him in the bar in the early hours of the morning, raising concerns about the culture inside the Australian squad.

It followed Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja all being disciplined during the India tour this year after failing to submit feedback requested by team management.

Australia play the first Test against England in Nottingham on July 10. (AFP)