Afghanistan Appoint Richard Pybus as Head Coach Ahead of Sri Lanka Series

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has appointed England-born Richard Pybus as the new head coach of the Afghanistan national team. Pybus will oversee the side across all formats and is set to link up with the squad ahead of next month’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.

Pybus replaces former England batter Jonathan Trott, who stepped down after a three-year stint following Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup campaign.

Although Pybus’ playing career was curtailed by injuries — he featured in just one List A match for Suffolk in 1986 — he went on to build an extensive coaching résumé across the international circuit. He served as Pakistan’s head coach from 1999 to 2003, guiding them to the final of the 1999 ODI World Cup.

Pybus later had a brief tenure as Bangladesh’s head coach in 2013 and spent six years working with the West Indies between 2013 and 2019. During that period, he held multiple roles, including director of cricket, high-performance expert, and head coach.

At the domestic level, Pybus has coached Middlesex in England and worked with Border and the Titans in South Africa’s domestic competitions.

His appointment comes at a critical juncture for Afghanistan, who exited at the group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup after defeats to New Zealand and South Africa in what was widely regarded as the tournament’s “group of death.”

Pybus is expected to join the team in March in the UAE, where Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka in a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and three T20Is from March 13 to 25.