Cricket: Aussie coach axed on eve of Ashes

Australian coach Mickey Arthur says "back-chat" and "giving attitude" had become an unacceptable part of the Test team culture. Photo / Getty Images.

Mickey Arthur has been sacked as Australian cricket coach just two weeks before the Ashes.

Queensland coach Darren Lehmann will replace Arthur, who was axed with a year and a half to run on his contract.

Lehmann's appointment will be announced by Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland at a media conference later Monday in England.

Arthur was sacked in Bristol on Sunday night (local time), by Sutherland and CA high performance manager Pat Howard.

Lehmann, currently in England coaching Australia A, takes charge just weeks before Australia's Ashes campaign starts.

The former Australian batsman will be presented as the new coach when Sutherland and Howard hold a media conference in Bristol on Monday.

South-African-born Arthur became the first foreign-born coach of the Australian team when appointed in November 2011.

But his tenure has been marred by recent controversies and poor on-field results, including a 4-0 Test series loss in India and failure to make the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals.

Arthur had been contracted until the end of the 2015 World Cup.

- AAP