Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe named Afghanistan's new head coach

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Thursday appointed former England cricketer Graham Thorpe as the head coach of their men's cricket team. The 52-year-old had recently stepped down from his role as England's batting coach following the 4-0 debacle in the Ashes series earlier this year.

"Former English middle-order batter Graham Thorpe has been named as the new head coach of our national men's cricket team. He will step up into the role of head coach ahead of the upcoming international events of Afghanistan," read a statement posted by the ACB.

Graham Thorpe, who held the position of England's batting coach from 2010 to 2022, was actively involved in shaping the team across all three formats and played an instrumental role in their 2019 World Cup win. Experts believe his immense wealth of experience could come in handy for the budding Afghanistan Men's national team.

Lauded as one of the finest batters of his time, Thrope played for England from 1993 to 2005. In 100 Tests for the team, the batter amassed 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66 and slammed 16 centuries and 39 fifties, with 200* as the personal best. Across 82 ODIs, the southpaw aggregated 2,380 runs while averaging 37.18 and smashed 21 fifties in his ODI career.

As for Afghanistan, the team will look forward to their tour to Ireland for a five-match T20I series set to take place between August 9 to 22. Post that, the team will head straight into the T20 World Cup 2022, which will be hosted by Australia in the month of October-November.