Tag: Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Trott to continue as Afghanistan head coach until end of 2025

Former England batter Jonathan Trott will remain head coach of Afghanistan in 2025 having overseen a breakthrough year, the cricket board said, hailing his “significant contributions”.

The South Africa-born 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.

Trott, who has been in charge of Afghanistan since 2022, took them to their first-ever semi-finals in any ICC event during the T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

“Afghanistan Cricket Board confirms the extension of the contract with Mr. Jonathan Trott, the national team’s head coach, for the year 2025,” the ACB said.

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“The decision comes in after his successful 2.5-year tenure, during which he made significant contributions to the team’s progress and development.”

Afghanistan will play in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, the premier ODI competition after the World Cup, for the first time next year.

Trott’s next assignment is the ODI series in Zimbabwe starting next week, but he will not be present for T20Is or Tests during the all-format tour because of “personal commitments”, the ACB said.

READ: Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi eye milestones in first T20I against South Africa

Afghanistan coach Trott blames pitch after semi-final defeat against South Africa

TAROUBA: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott lambasted on the pitch used for his side’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against South Africa.

Afghanistan batters found themselves in heaps of trouble against a ruthless South Africa bowling attack on a surface that offered lateral seam and uneven bounce.

The Asian side, after a shaky start, lost wickets at an alarming rate and were eventually bundled out on a meagre 56, their lowest total in Men’s T20Is.

Set to chase a modest 57-run target, South African batters also had to make hard yards to achieve the total which they did for the loss of one wicket and 67 balls to spare.

Speaking after his side’s humiliating defeat, Jonathan Trott said the pitch used was not suitable for such big games.

“I don’t want to get myself into trouble, I don’t want to come across as bitter or sour grapes but that’s not the pitch that you want to have in the semi-final of the World Cup. Plain and simple,” said Trott.

“It should be a fair contest. I’m not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no seam movement, but you shouldn’t have bets, worrying about going forward and the ball flying over your head.

“T20 is about attacking, scoring runs and taking wickets, not looking to survive.”

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Jonathan Trott also expressed dissatisfaction with his side’s tight schedule, so they got less time to prepare than their opposition.

“Playing the last group game and then playing the first semi-final isn’t ideal – travelling and not really having, a day off if you like. But that’s not a reason we didn’t win.

“We knew the schedule, so that’s not an excuse as such. In tournaments you can’t have everything your own way, you’ve got to fight and play against the odds. We have done that at times and I’m very proud of that.”

Afghanistan had a campaign to remember in T20 World Cup 2024 as they registered wins over Papua New Guinea (PNG), Uganda and New Zealand in the group stage before triumphing over Australia and Bangladesh in the Super Eights stage to qualify for their first-ever semi-final.

READ: Rashid Khan opens up after crushing semi-final defeat against South Africa

‘No history in semi-finals makes Afghanistan dangerous’: Jonathan Trott

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott Wednesday termed his side dangerous ahead of their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against South Africa on June 26.

Afghanistan, on Monday, made history as they qualified for an International Cricket Council (ICC) event’s semi-final by defeating Bangladesh in a low-scoring thriller.

The Atalans defeated New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Uganda in the group stage before their historic victory over Australia, followed by Bangladesh in the Super Eights stage.

They lost only two matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 thus far against West Indies and India.

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Meanwhile, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott, at the pre-match conference ahead of their high-stakes clash against South Africa, claimed that having no history in the semi-finals makes his team dangerous.

“I also think we go into the semi-final with no scarring or no history with regards to the semi-finals. This is uncharted territory for us. Just going to go out there and give it a roll,” Jonathan Trott said.

“There are no preconceived ideas, or history of failure or success in semi-finals so for us it is a new challenge. And I think it makes us dangerous in the semi-finals as a side with nothing to lose and obviously a lot of pressure on the opposition,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention that South Africa are unbeaten in the T20 World Cup 2024 with seven victories on the trot.

The Proteas made it to the T20 World Cup semi-finals twice but lost on each occasion.

READ: ICC unveils match officials for T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals

“We can take on any one,” Jonathan Trott after Afghanistan’s Super 8s qualification

TAROUBA: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott expressed confidence in his team’s ability to excel in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

An all-round performance on Thursday led Afghanistan to thrash Papua New Guinea (PNG) by seven wickets and into the Super 8s stage of the 20-team tournament.

Afghanistan are currently unbeaten in the mega event, emerging victorious in all three of their fixtures thus far.

Meanwhile, their head coach Jonathan Trott highlighted the talent; his team possesses before claiming that the side has not played their best game.

“I believe we’re very, very talented and when we play our best cricket, we can take on anyone. We’ve seen that,” Trott said after Afghanistan’s victory over PNG.

“I feel that we still haven’t played our best game. There’s still things we need to work on and we’ll be working on those over the next few days to give ourselves the best chance to beat the major teams,” he added.

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Trott was delighted with Afghanistan’s qualification for the Super 8s but acknowledged that the team has not won anything yet.

“We still have one game left, an important group game, and that’s going to be a good gauge of where we are against a powerful West Indies side who won an incredible game last night (against New Zealand) from the position they were in,” he added.

“So, it’s nice to have won tonight and got qualification as such. To come to a World Cup and win three is a nice feeling, but also the realisation and reality that we haven’t won anything yet.

“We only achieved the group stage and we’ve got some important cricket matches coming up which we’re going to have to play well in.”

It is worth mentioning here that Afghanistan lead Group C standings of the T20 World Cup 2024 with six points in three matches, closely followed by West Indies, who boasts a similar record but an inferior net run rate.

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