Afghanistan look for a new head coach as Graham Thorpe continues to be seriously ill

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is looking for a new head coach as Graham Thorpe, who is currently in the role, is seriously ill and is not expected to return to the team any time soon. ACB has reportedly begun the recruitment process and the team is expected to have a new head coach for the next season.

Thorpe, a former England batter, was appointed for the head coach role in March this year and was supposed to join the Afghanistan camp towards the end of April, according to ESPNcricinfo. He was unable to return to the team during the time, and in his absence, the team operated with Raees Khan Ahmadzai on an interim basis. 

ACB hire Ryan Maron as their fielding coach

In the former English batter’s absence, Afghanistan played three ODIs and as many T20Is against Zimbabwe and won all the matches with Ahmadzai acting as the interim head coach and Nawroz Khan Mangal as the batting coach. Thorpe formerly worked with England in their coaching setup and his association came to an end following the team’s 4-0 loss in Australia in the Ashes.

Thorpe took over from Lance Klusener as the head coach of the Asian team as the latter stood down from the role in November 2021 after two years. Meanwhile, the ACB has hired former South African cricketer Ryan Maron for the role of fielding coach. Maron has also previously worked as the fielding coach of West Indies.

This was ACB’s second appointment in the last two months after former Pakistan international Umar Gul was appointed as the bowling coach until the end of 2022. The team will tour Ireland in August for five T20Is. The initial plan was to also have a one-off Test match and three ODIs, but the schedule was later reworked in the wake of the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia that is set to commence in October.

Afghanistan go into the Ireland series with a winning streak of seven games in white-ball cricket. Ireland, on the other hand, will play three ODIs and T20Is each against New Zealand, this month, and two T20Is against South Africa before the series against Afghanistan.