Source: Trinidad and Tobago NewsDay
Thursday, February 2 2017
FORMER WEST Indies cricket team all-rounder and coach Phil Simmons has been appointed as a technical consultant coach by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), according to a post on the Pajhwok Afghan News website yesterday.
The 53-year-old, who was recently named as coach of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) team St Kitts/Nevis Patriots, was fired as WI coach last September due to “differences in culture and strategic approach”, six months after overseeing the regional team’s successful campaign in the World T20 in India.
The vacant WI coaching job was officially handed to ex-Australia all-rounder Stuart Law a few days ago.
The ex-Zimbabwe and Ireland coach will be assisting Afghanistan’s coach Lalchand Rajput on technical issues, according to the news report.
Between 1987 and 1999, Simmons played 26 Tests (1,002 runs at an average of 22.26) and 143 One Day Internationals (3,675 runs at 28.93 and 83 wickets at 34.65).
According to the news report, “the ACB management considered Simmons appointment a valuable step in players’ capacity development.” The Trinidadian, who shot to prominence after a successful eight-year tenure with Ireland, was recently named coach of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for the 2017 Caribbean Premier League.
