Ex-English batsman Thorpe appointed Afghanistan;s head coach

KABUL (Pajhwok) Former English middle-order batter Graham Thorpe has been named as the new head coach of the Afghanistan national men’s cricket team.

He will step up into the role of head coach ahead of the upcoming international events in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Graham Thorpe has played hundred test matches for England from 1987-to 2002, scoring 6744 runs at 44.66 with 16 centuries and the best of unbeaten 200*. He has also represented England in 82 One Day Internationals (ODIs) during the period, having scored 2380 runs at 37.18 with 21 half-centuries to his name in the format.

Thorpe has also played a mammoth 341 FC matches for Surrey County CC, where he has scored 21,937 runs at 45.04 having 49 hundred to his name. He has also featured in 354 List-A matches for the county, having scored nearly 11 thousand runs at 39.67 with 9 centuries.

After his tenure as a cricketer, Thorpe took to coaching roles at different levels, the biggest of them being the batting coach for the English National team from April 2011 to September 2019. He has worked with all the England players across international formats, completed 6 England lions tours and 12 England senior men’s tours. He has also worked as a lead batting coach with World Cup Winner England Team during the 2019 CWC.

It’s to mention, that 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.