After being axed for England’s Ashes disaster, Graham Thorpe named Afghanistan’s new head coach on Tuesday.
Thorpe, along with head coach Chris Silverwood and managing director Ashley Giles, was one of three people fired as a result of England’s poor Ashes campaign in Australia.
Thorpe, who is now 52, played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, scoring 6744 runs at 44.66 with 16 hundreds. He’s also appeared in 82 One Day Internationals for England, accumulating 2380 runs and 21 half-centuries in the format. The ACB named him as the full-time replacement for Lance Klusener, who left following a two-year term in November.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced Graham Thorpe as Afghanistan’s new head coach as full-time replacement for Lance Klusener, who stepped down in November after a two-year term. Thorpe played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005.
“The ACB had launched the recruitment process for hiring a new head coach, through which Graham Thorpe was selected as the best available nominee for the position,” the board said in a press release.
“He will step up into the role of head coach ahead of the upcoming international events of Afghanistan.”
Stuart Law, the Former Australia batter had been in charge of the national team in an interim capacity.
The other names in contention for Afghanistan’s new head coach included former Pakistan players Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Mahmood.
Thorpe’s more-than-a-decade-long tenure in the England set-up ended in controversial circumstances earlier this year.
Following England’s defeat in the fifth and final Test at Hobart, Thorpe triggered controversy by filming the arrival of police officers to break up an early-morning drinking session involving several English and Australian players.
The police had allegedly been called after Thorpe lit a cigar in an indoor space, which is against the law in Tasmania.
Fans of Afghan cricket are excited after Thrope named as Afghanistan’s new head coach