Afghanistan’s head coach, Jonathan Trott, recently expressed his frustration with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) over the lack of communication and interference in team selection. His comments came after Afghanistan’s disappointing defeat to Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in Harare, where the hosts won by an innings and 73 runs.
Trott, who has been involved in Afghanistan cricket during some of their most successful phases, including impressive campaigns in the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups,
revealed that he has been completely sidelined from the selection process in recent months. The coach stated that he has not had any communication with senior board officials or selectors despite repeated attempts.
"The sad thing for me, though, is the fact that I haven't been able to have any input on the squad. I haven't had any communication with the top management (of the ACB) or with the (chief) selector. I've been trying to get hold of them for the last couple of weeks. And the chairman, I've been trying to get hold of him and I haven't been able to get any input back on the selection, not only for this squad but for the last few squads since the Asia Cup didn't go our way. There has sort of been no communication at all," he said, quoted as saying in the Zimbabwe-based Sportscast website
When you don't have that input, it is really sad: Trott
Trott revealed that this lack of coordination has led to him having no involvement in the playing XI for the Zimbabwe Test, over which he also had no say.
"So that's one of those things that I think as a coach, you should have a little bit of idea or a little bit of input. Certainly the playing XI, which for this game again wasn't the case. When you don't have that input, like I have had in other teams and other tournaments, it is really sad," he added.
When asked if he was considering stepping down from his role, the veteran accepted that if the communication issues continued, he would have no choice but to leave after the T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to take place in India.
"We need him to be fresh for the stuff coming up, certainly the T20 World Cup, so for me it's understandable. It gives opportunities to younger players. It's unfortunate they were not able to do it in this game. Hopefully they've learnt from the experience and will come back better players when they get the opportunity again," he concluded.
