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Khaleej Times
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Coach Trott says Afghanistan will never be taken lightly again
Afghanistan's performances at the 50-overs and Twenty20 World Cups mean there is no chance of Australia taking them lightly in Friday's Champions Trophy match, particularly with a place in the semifinals on the line, coach Jonathan Trott said. Afghanistan beat England by eight runs in Lahore on Wednesday to stay in the hunt for a berth in the last four, underlining their strength in limited-overs cricket. Trott's side beat England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to finish sixth at the 50-overs World Cup in 2023 and followed that up by making the semifinals of the T20 edition last year, beating Australia along the way. "It's all on the line, and since I've been coach we've played against Australia three times and we've been in the game in each of those games," former England batter Trott told reporters. "We should take a lot of confidence from that ... certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan's never going to be taken lightly ever again. "We've got to be prepared because I know Australia aren't going to take us lightly. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. "In this format, in these conditions, I don't see that. Every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win." Trott said there was a rawness to the team when he took over in 2022 but they have grown with experience. "I'm quite an ambitious type of guy and I'm ambitious with these talented players," he added. "Who knows what we can achieve."
Al Jazeera
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
Afghanistan vs Australia – ICC Champions Trophy: Match time, points, teams
Who: Afghanistan vs Australia What: ICC Champions Trophy – Group B game When: Friday, February 28 at 2pm (09:00 GMT) Where: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan Follow Al Jazeera's live photo and text commentary stream from 05:00 GMT. Afghanistan will have plenty on their minds when they take on Australia in their final group game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on Friday. The rising force of men's cricket will be against the most successful team in all ICC tournaments. But that's not all. The match will be played under the cloud of lingering political tensions between both countries and their respective cricket boards. Australia have refused to play against Afghanistan in their bilateral tournaments since the Taliban returned to power in the Asian country in 2021, a move not taken lightly by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). The boycott has been criticised by ACB officials and Afghan players, as well as an outgoing head of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The match also acts as a virtual knockout for both teams, providing them a chance to qualify for the semifinals. Should Afghanistan make it through, it will be their first time in the last-four stage of an ICC event. Australia, meanwhile, are no strangers to the knockout stages and will relish the chance to lift another one-day international (ODI) trophy, having won the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023. 'Who knows what we can achieve' Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott believes his team's performances at the 50-overs and Twenty20 World Cups mean there is no chance of Australia taking them lightly. Afghanistan beat England by eight runs in Lahore on Wednesday In their last two ICC tournaments, Trott's men beat England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to finish sixth at the 50-over World Cup and entered the semifinals of the T20 edition in 2024, beating Australia along the way. 'It's all on the line, and since I've been coach, we've played against Australia three times and we've been in the game in each of those games,' former England batter Trott said before the match. 'We should take a lot of confidence from that … certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan's never going to be taken lightly ever again. 'In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. 'In this format, in these conditions, I don't see that. Every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win.' Trott said there was a rawness to the team when he took over in 2022, but they have grown with experience. 'Who knows what we can achieve?' he asked. How can Afghanistan qualify for the semifinals? After two points from their two games, the template is simple for Trott's side: Beat Australia, finish with four points and seal a berth. How can Australia qualify for the semifinals? The two-time Champions Trophy winners have three points from their first two games. A win over England brought them two points, while a washed-out game against South Africa earned them one point. All they need now is one point to finish against their opponents. Should the match end in no result, Australia will bag one point and end on four from three matches, enough to see them through. A loss, though, will knock them out. Lahore weather forecast Weather could play spoilsport for the second game in a row as heavy showers are forecast in the morning. The rain shoul ease up later in the day, but is likely to affect the match. The reigning world champions have won all four of the ODI meetings between both sides. Form guide: Afghanistan Before losing their opening match against South Africa, Afghanistan had won four of their six ODIs in bilateral series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. They bounced back from the loss in their tournament-opener to beat 2019 world champions England on Wednesday. Last five ODIs: NR W W L W Form guide: Australia Australia arrived at the Champions Trophy on the back of two ODI series losses, including a whitewash away to Sri Lanka, but turned things around in their opening game against old rivals England. Last five ODIs: L L L W NR Afghanistan team news Afghanistan are expected to field the same XI that overcame England in their last game. Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik, Nangeyalia Kharote Australia team news Australia are also unlikely to tinker with the winning XI that took them over the line against their rivals.
Int'l Cricket Council
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
Coach Trott lauds ‘resilient' Afghanistan as focus shifts to Australia showdown
Afghanistan have the chance to qualify for the semi-final stage in back-to-back Men's ICC limited-over tournaments. Having shocked the world in last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Jonathan Trott's side are now just one win away from reaching the final four yet again. It's why he moved to ensure celebrations after their England win were only short-lived. 'I'm going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they enjoy tonight, (but) wake up tomorrow ready for Australia," he told the media after their nail-biting victory over the English. "As soon as they wake up tomorrow, the focus is on Australia.' Afghanistan trump England in tense finish | Match Highlights | Champions Trophy 2025 Recent performances on the world stage mean this Afghanistan side can no longer fly under the radar. It's something Trott is very aware of. 'Australia aren't going to take us lightly,' he continued. 'So, we've got to be prepared. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. But in this format, in these conditions, I don't see that. 'Since I've been coach we've played against Australia three times and we've been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that. And I think certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan's never going to be taken lightly ever again. 'I see every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win.' Trott has overseen first-hand Afghanistan's rise to cricketing prominence, crediting how his side has become more battle-hardened against the world's top teams. 'There's a resilience to them,' he continued. 'I think if you add to some cricketing experience and cricketing match awareness with regards to batting in particular, with regards to how you pace the innings … it's not always down to one person. We saw Ibrahim, the way that he's done today, we've seen Gurbaz do it in the past … we have Gulbadin at eight at the moment, who can come in and change games. 'So that self-belief is important and it starts within, but it's also quite infectious and it spreads within the squad.' Their clash with Australia is now, effectively, a quarter-final, with the winner gaining undeniable semi-final qualification and the loser packing their bags. So with big stakes at play, Trott hopes for strong support for their clash in Lahore. 'Hopefully Friday will be a massive sell out and people will turn up or take the day off work and come and watch us from two o'clock onwards. I think it's great for the guys. I think it's a huge experience and these players will never forget nights like this. We've had a few other nights along the way in ICC events and series' and that will just add to the confidence that we should hopefully take in on Friday.' Afghanistan wrap up a thrilling win | AFG v ENG | Champions Trophy 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, 2025 Afghanistan News
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trott defends Afghanistan team with cloud hanging over England game
A day out from what is a must-win game for both Afghanistan and England, Jonathan Trott, head coach of the former, addressed the issue that is impossible to ignore during this Champions Trophy. The Taliban continues its brutal clampdown on women's rights back in Afghanistan and Trott outlined the position his players find themselves in. 'They know the difference between right and wrong,' said Trott, drawing a distinction between a team that play their cricket in exile under the previous Afghan flag and the regime at home. 'They are under no illusions about where they have come from and they're very courageous. You see that in their cricket and that's the one thing I've not tried to change at all. They know who they are playing for and representing.' It is not the first time England have met Afghanistan since western forces withdrew from the country in 2021, creating a power vacuum into which the Taliban returned. In the most recent, during the 2023 World Cup, Jos Buttler's men were spun out for a 69-run humbling in Delhi. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who have since publicly denounced the country's ban on medical education for women, were the match‑winners. As things worsen in the country, as basic human rights for women and girls continue to be stripped away, calls for cricket to expel Afghanistan have grown. After all, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) enjoys the perks of being a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) but is also barred from making any provision for the women's game by the Taliban. Back in the UK, this culminated in nearly 200 MPs, led by Labour's Tonia Antoniazzi, writing to the England and Wales Cricket Board on 7 January to ask it to consider boycotting this Champions Trophy fixture. The ECB resisted, citing the need for collective action. They were backed by the British government, which called on the ICC to enforce its own rules. But due to the geopolitics at play here, the notion of the sport penalising the ACB appears to be a depressing nonstarter. On Tuesday afternoon, on the eve of the Champions Trophy match, protestors were due to gather at Lord's in the face of the inaction. Just a day after that letter was sent to the ECB a far more significant development took place in Dubai when India's foreign minister, Vikram Misri, met with his Afghan equivalent, Amir Khan Muttaqi, for talks; the first tentative discussions in what, according to recent reports, could soon mean a Taliban-run Afghan embassy restored in New Delhi. India, with China hovering, is looking to deepen its influence in the region. Those talks reportedly revolved around humanitarian assistance and future development projects, as war-torn Afghanistan attempts to rebuild its infrastructure. But 'ways to strengthen cooperation in sports, particularly cricket' were also on the agenda. Along with some recent, awkward photo opportunities with the team, this rather undermines the notion that the Taliban cares little about its men's national team. The ICC's position ultimately depends on that of India. As the cameras kept reminding us when panning to the VIP box during India's win against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, the ICC's notionally independent chair is Jay Shah, son of India's home minister, Amit Shah. He took the role in December, fresh from six years running a board that is heavily intertwined with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party by way of personnel and outlook. One of the things said about the ACB during all this – including by the British prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer – is that by not running a women's programme, it is in breach of its obligations as an ICC full member. The ECB is understood to have sought clarification from the ICC's legal team, with sources suggesting the issue has exposed more of a grey area in governance than may appear from the outside. The ICC's criteria do state that in order to become a full member, a country must have an established women's cricket programme, with the ACB granted dispensation to step up in 2017 on the proviso it would address this shortcoming in time. But now it is part of the club – and unlike for those countries with associate status – sources suggest there is no mechanism by which this can be monitored, or any action taken. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion As two of the boards to suspend bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan, the ECB and Cricket Australia are also lobbying to see a portion of Afghan's ICC disbursements – worth $17m (£13.4m) per year overall – moved into an escrow account until such time as the situation in the country improves. It would still be the ACB's money, just on hold. Another proposal is to divert part of the ICC's development fund towards the women's players who fled the country – the majority to Australia – and train female coaches and administrators. The ECB, when confirming this week's match would go ahead, also called for the ICC to consider recognising an Afghanistan Women's Refugee Team. But so far, beyond CA's support of the Afghan women who made it to Australia and the ECB donating £100,000 to a refugee cricketer fund set up by the MCC Foundation, the situation appears to be going nowhere. These are small steps. Indeed, only last year, when Shah was chair of the Asian Cricket Council that distributes revenues from the biennial Asia Cup, Afghanistan's split of that particular pot was increased. Given the men's team is based in the United Arab Emirates – Trott has never set foot in Afghanistan – one of the arguments put forward by their allies at the top table is that their cost base is already extraordinarily high. The cynics in the room also suspect there are full members who do not want scrutiny of their own women's affairs; that to penalise Afghanistan would be to set what they view as a dangerous precedent. 'Every time we play the Afghanistan men's team this issue will keep coming up,' said Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive who is currently in Lahore. 'And that has got to be better than the alternative, where they are pushed out, cricket dies a death in Afghanistan, and we never have to worry about it again because it's not in our field.' From playing in refugee camps to competing with the world's best, the rise of Afghanistan's men is one of cricket's great stories. But right now, with half of its population barred from doing the same, the sport's shortcomings are being exposed.
Reuters
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Afghan players in tricky situation over anti-Taliban boycott calls, says coach
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's cricketers know things are not right at home, their coach said on Tuesday, over calls for opponents to boycott Champions Trophy matches in response to the Taliban government's crackdown on women's rights. Some UK lawmakers want England to boycott Wednesday's match, while South Africa's sports minister had spoken against playing their game last week during the tournament in Pakistan. "These guys are brave. They know the difference between right and wrong. It is a real tricky situation for them," coach Jonathan Trott told the BBC broadcaster. "We work hard to bring joy to the country and the guys are passionate, brave and proud of being able to do that, but knowing full well that there are things that are not correct." Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have restricted women's access to education and work, curbed their movement and forced them to cover their faces and bodies. "I can see the world's concern. I am concerned. I have daughters who play cricket," added Trott, who was a batsman for England though born in South Africa. "I am proud of where I come from and the change the country made for the betterment of everybody. Hopefully one day I can see that in Afghanistan." England' cricket board said this week's game would go ahead after talks between the UK government, the International Cricket Council and the players, adding that the cricketing community alone could not tackle Afghanistan's problems. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said his side were sportsmen who could only control what happened on the field. "We play hard, we work hard, we have good net sessions. So that's what we're thinking of and we only can do what we can do in the ground," he told a press conference. Afghanistan had 25 contracted women players in 2020, but most are now in Australia. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs and that internal matters should be addressed locally.
