Andy Moles set to become Afghanistan's Director of Cricket
Former Afghanistan coach Andy Moles is all set to take the role of Director of Afghanistan Cricket according to latest reports. He has also been appointed as chief selector of the Afghanistan team. Andy coached Afghanistan during the 2014-15 season when they made their World Cup debut. He has been instrumental in bringing the Afghan youngsters towards cricket and teach them the ethics of the game.
Andy was their interim coach when they won their Test match against Bangladesh as captain Rashid Khan ran through the Bangladeshi batsmen. With the resignation of Phil Simmons as the head coach after a World Cup debacle which saw Afghanistan losing all games, Afghanistan Cricket are in a state of an overhaul of their administrative and cricketing structure. Recently, Lance Klusener was appointed as the new coach of Afghanistan. Klusener had been part of the South African Test team as the batting coach, and bowling coach of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
In 2014, Andy Moles replaced Kabir Khan as the head coach of the Afghanistan team. A batting coach of the same team earlier, Moles helped Bangladesh finish sixth out of the seven teams in Group A. They also finished third in their group in the World T20 Qualifier and qualified for the World T20 after beating Papa New Guinea.
Andy Moles retired from cricket in 1997 after playing for English county side Warwickshire. He has had stints with New Zealand national team and also New Zealand domestic side Northern Districts. Scotland winning the ICC trophy title and thereby qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in the Carribean was a highlight of his coaching career. He also worked with the Kenya national team.
Communication gap was the reason given five years ago when he parted ways with the Afghanistan team as their head coach. It’s going to be interesting to see how his partnership with Lance Klusener turns out to be and if at all it can turn things around for Afghanistan cricket again.
Also see – World Test Championship points table