Richard Pybus has replaced Jonathan Trott as the coach of Afghanistan cricket team. Trott's tenure ended when the team's campaign at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 finished at the group stage. Afghanistan won just two of their four group-stage games. Trott served as their coach for three years.
Pybus was born in England on July 05, 1964. Although he played only one List A game in his playing career, the Englishman has prospered as a coach. Pybus has picked several significant assignments.
One of his first roles as head coach at the international level came with Pakistan in 1999. With him at the helm, Pakistan had a brilliant run at the 1999 Cricket World Cup as they went all the way to the final. He was released from the role in July 2001. Pybus returned to coach the team for a second time after the 2003 World Cup.
From 2005 to the end of the 2006-07 season he was with South Africa's domestic team Titans. He has also coached South Africa's provincial side Border and Titans' rivals Cobras.
In 2012, he was appointed as the coach of Bangladesh. Unfortunately, this stint lasted for only four months as Pybus decided not to continue in the role due to disagreements with Bangladesh Cricket Board.
ACB Appoint Richard Pybus as National Team Head Coach
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) February 24, 2026
ACB is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Pybus as Afghanistan's new head coach. He will join AfghanAtalan ahead of the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka in March.
Read More: https://t.co/H0dAAElOFc pic.twitter.com/wLoE5x3450
Pybus also has experience of working with the West Indies. In six years, from 2013 to 2019, he worked with the West Indies cricket set up in various capacities, including director of cricket, a high-performance expert, and finally, their head coach. 2016 was a significant year for Pybus as a cricket administrator as he designed and managed the high-performance structure of West Indies cricket.
His efforts enabled the senior men's and the women's cricket teams to win the T20 World Cup along with the U-19 team winning the World Cup.
According to a press release by Afghanistan Cricket Board, Pybus has worked closely with international stars like Faf du Plessis, Dale Steyn and Mohammad Rizwan.
Pybus's first assignment as the coach of Afghanistan will be a white-ball series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in March.
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