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Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott has accused the ACB of letting him have ‘no input’ in team selection, including playing 11 picks for the recent Test against Zimbabwe.
Jonathan Trott.
Jonathan Trott, the South Africa-born head coach of the Afghanistan men’s team, accused the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) of allowing him no input on the team selection, even for the playing 11 for the recently concluded Test against Zimbabwe in Harare, which the visitors lost by an innings and 73 runs.
Trott said that he has been trying to speak to several ACB bosses, including the chief selector and the chairman, but has received no communication from them ‘since the Asia Cup’. Afghanistan exited that tournament from the group stage, too, despite being one of the favorites to reach the final.
“The sad thing for me, though, is the fact that I haven’t been able to have any input on the squad,” Trott said, as quoted by Zimbabwe-based Sportscast website. “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 added.
“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,” Trott added.
Trott raised further alarms for the ACB by saying that he had no clarity over his future and that his ‘job description’ had changed.
Well, I don’t know, I’d like to open up communication. I’ve been told my tenure is sort of until the T20 World Cup, so that’s obviously a couple of more months, then after that, look if the job description has changed with regards to being the head coach. So my focus now is solely on gaining a bit of momentum, certainly the upcoming T20 series against Zimbabwe who are going to be tough to beat at home. It’s going to be great competition and a great series in the short format so that is exciting for us. That is what we can focus on in the short term and go from there really.”
Trott was appointed the coach in July 2022 and is seen as a crucial figure in Afghanistan’s success since then, especially the good runs at the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Afghanistan, as a country, is going through a tense phase. The ACB had recently mourned the death of three local young cricketers, accusing neighbors Pakistan of a deadly air-strike and pulling out of a scheduled tri-series in retaliation.
October 25, 2025, 09:32 IST
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