Afghanistan have appointed England-born Richard Pybus as their new head coach following the departure of Jonathan Trott. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed the development on Tuesday, emphasising Pybus' illustrious achievements during his coaching days.
Pybus is a celebrated support staff member despite his cricket career having been cut short due to a spate of injuries. The England-born was with the West Indies cricket team from 2013 to 2019, having served in different capacities, including Head Coach, Director of Cricket, and Head of High Performance in varied times.
"During this period, he designed and managed the high-performance structure that led to a historic treble of ICC World Cup victories in 2016, when the West Indies Men’s, Women’s, and U19 teams all secured world titles in a single calendar year, which marked the first in the history of international cricket," the ACB said in a statement.
Pybus also served as Pakistan head coach and had short stint with Bangladesh
Meanwhile, Pybus served as the Pakistan head coach from 1999 to 2003, during which he guided the team to the final of the ODI World Cup 1999. He also served as a head coach for a brief stint in 2012. Pybus' resume extends to domestic and franchise cricket.
"Domestically, he has a strong coaching record in South African domestic & franchise cricket, where the teams under his guidance secured nine championship titles, which is also a national record. Additionally, he was named South African Cricket Coach of the Year twice," the ACB further said.
Pybus worked honing skills of Faf, Steyn and Rizwan
Meanwhile, Pybus also worked with players like Mohammad Rizwan, Faf du Plessis and Dale Steyn to hone their skills. "He has also played a significant role in the development of individual players, including Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and South Africa’s Faf Du Plessis. Additionally, he worked with Dale Steyn and helped him become one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket," ACB further wrote.
Afghanistan part ways with Trott
Afghanistan have parted ways with Jonathan Trott. The former England cricketer had an impressive run with the team after taking over the role in 2022. He oversaw the team's strong performance in the ODI World Cup 2023, where they finished sixth, higher than 2019 champions England and 1996 winners Sri Lanka. He guided his team to a historic semifinal in the T20 World Cup 2024, during which his team registered victories over New Zealand and Australia, among others. His tenure came to an end after Afghanistan got knocked out in the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2026 after being pitted in a group of death with the likes of New Zealand and South Africa.
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