Phil Simmons a 56-year-old former West Indies all-rounder has decided to quit Afghanistan as a coach after the World Cup.
He said he won’t renew the contract- signed in December 2017, after the World Cup to be held in England and Wales because his objective had been accomplished by taking the minnows to the 50-over masterpiece.
He told the media; “I have thought about it and I have actually given the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) may notice that I will not be renewing my contract.”
“I will move on to something different once my contract expires on July 15,” he added.
Simmon further stated; “I signed up originally for 18 months and I think I have done a lot in this period. It is time for me to move on to something else now. To want to get to the World Cup — that was ACB’s goal at the time they appointed me.”
“My goal is always to leave things better than when I joined: the way we practice, the way we think about the game, the way we assess other teams. I’ve tried to help the players in all those areas.”
In the Previous year, the Afghanistan team was led under the guidance of Coach Simmon in their debut in a Test cricket held in India. Which led them to defeat Ireland to be registered as the first Test win in March.
This war-torn country has also secured a billet in the 10-team World Cup in the wake of beating West Indies in the final of a passing competition a year ago within the guidance of Simmons as a coach.
The reports say that the decision of stepping down as Afghanistan coach made by Simmon might be the result of the controversial changes made by ABC in the side’s leadership that has ended four-year captaincy period of Asghar Afghan across all formats.
Gulbadin Naib was appointed ODI captain, while Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan were put in charge of the Test and T20I teams respectively.
Simmons expressed his disappointment that the ABC and the National Selection Committee didn’t even consult him about the changes.
“No, I was not aware of it. I was not given any reasons. It was the decision of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the selectors,” Simmons told the reports.
“How can I take it? I can’t change it. So I have to just get on with what I have to do and make sure the squad is preparing in the same way I wanted them to prepare to bar the (captaincy) change,” added Simmon.
The World Cup campaign of Afghanistan against the defending champions Australia will start on June 1.