Jonathan Trott Left Out of Selection Talks, Questions ACB’s Approach

Jonathan Trott criticised the Afghanistan Cricket Board for ignoring his inputs and failing to communicate with him about team selections in recent months.

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott voiced his disappointment with the Afghanistan Cricket Board for the ongoing lack of communication and involvement in team selection. His frustration followed Afghanistan’s heavy innings-and-73-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in Harare.

Trott, who guided Afghanistan through successful 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cup campaigns, revealed that he has been excluded from selection discussions in recent months. Despite repeated efforts, he has received no response from senior officials or selectors regarding recent squad decisions. The former England batter highlighted that the disconnect began after the team’s poor Asia Cup campaign, leaving him without any role in shaping subsequent line-ups.

“The sad thing for me, though, is the fact that I haven’t been able to have any input on the squad. I haven’t had any communication with the top management (of the ACB) or with the (chief) selector. I’ve been trying to get hold of them for the last couple of weeks. And the chairman, I’ve been trying to get hold of him and I haven’t been able to get any input back on the selection, not only for this squad but for the last few squads since the Asia Cup didn’t go our way. There has sort of been no communication at all,” he said on the Zimbabwe-based Sportscast website.

“So that’s one of those things that I think as a coach, you should have a little bit of idea or a little bit of input. Certainly the playing XI, which for this game again wasn’t the case. When you don’t have that input, like I have had in other teams and other tournaments, it is really sad,” he added.

Trott also hinted that he may step down after the 2026 T20 World Cup in India if communication issues persist. He added that resting senior players for upcoming tournaments was understandable but stressed the need for better clarity in planning.

“We need him to be fresh for the stuff coming up, certainly the T20 World Cup, so for me it’s understandable. It gives opportunities to younger players. It’s unfortunate they were not able to do it in this game. Hopefully they’ve learnt from the experience and will come back better players when they get the opportunity again,” he concluded.