KABUL: Jonathan Trott will continue as Afghan­istan’s head coach until the end of 2025 after being awarded a one-year extension, the country’s cricket board said.

The England internatio­nal Trott have overseen a breakthrough year, the cri­c­­ket board said, hailing his “significant contributions”.

The 43-year-old has imp­r­essed in the role and was linked to the England job in July after Matthew Mott stood down as their white-ball coach.

Afghanistan made significant progress under for­mer English batter Trott, reaching the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup for the first time earlier this year.

He also guided Afghan­istan to victories over former champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka at last year’s One-day Intern­ational World Cup.

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Afghanistan’s impressive performances under Trott ensured them a top-eight finish which ensured they will play in the Champions Trophy, the premier one-day competition after the World Cup, for the first time next year.

“Afghanistan Cricket Board confirms the extension of the contract with Mr Jonathan Trott, the natio­nal team’s head coach, for the year 2025,” the Afghanistan Cricket Board said. “The decision comes in after his successful two and a half-three year tenure, during which he made significant contributions to the team’s progress and development.”

Trott will oversee the team during the ODI leg of their multi-format tour of Zimbabwe this month but will miss other matches for personal reasons.

Trott’s next assignment is a one-day series in Zimbabwe starting next week, but he will not be present for T20s or Tests during the all-format tour because of “personal commitments”, the ACB said.

Hamid Hassan will fill in for Trott in Zimbabwe.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024