The Afghanistan Cricket Board has named former Australian cricketer Shane McDermott as the new player for the men’s team.

Shane McDermott will join the team from February 1, 2024, when Afghanistan are set to tour Sri Lanka. The ACB issued a press release in this regard and informed about the developments in the Afghanistan cricket team.

The press release read: “The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirms the appointment of Shane McDermott as the new fielding coach of the Afghanistan national team. McDermott will join the team on February 1, during the all-format tour from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka.”

Afghanistan Cricket Board appoints Shane McDermott as new fielding coach of men’s national team

Shane McDermott has a wealth of experience in cricket coaching and holds a level three coaching certificate. McDermott has partnered with teams including Australia, Sri Lanka, the Western Australian Cricket Association and Cricket Tasmania.

Shane McDermott has worked as the fielding coach of the Bangladesh cricket team since 2022 and worked in the same profile for Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2021. He also served as the head coach of the Sri Lanka A cricket team.

Shane McDermott was also interim fielding coach and interim analyst for the national A team at Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Center from 2012 to 2019. The Afghanistan Cricket Board recently hired Andrew Puttick as batting coach for the men’s team. Afghanistan’s head coach is former England batsman Jonathan Trott.

Jonathan Trott has had great success with the Afghanistan cricket team over the last two years and has achieved many milestones during this period. Afghanistan was able to defeat Pakistan in a T20I series for the first time, while the team also had a decent season in the recently concluded ODI World Cup.

Afghanistan defeated big teams like England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and came close to defeating Australia as well. There was also a time when Afghanistan was also in the race to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.

Recently, on the tour of India, Afghanistan offered great competition to the Rohit Sharma-led team in the three-match T20I series. Afghanistan lost the series 3-0, but the last match was the highlight of the entire series.

Chasing a mammoth target of 213 runs, the Afghan team extended the match to two super overs, which is undoubtedly a very important thing for a team like Afghanistan. Afghanistan has shown great progress in the last ten years and players like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are some of the best players in the current team.

Afghanistan are set to face Sri Lanka and Ireland in their next series, which will begin in February. Afghanistan would play one Test, three ODIs and three T20I matches on the tour of Sri Lanka and will look to register a win against the Lankan Lions.

Afghanistan would also be one of the top contenders to reach the last 16 of the T20 World Cup 2024 based on their performance in the ODI World Cup 2023.