Stuart Law Named Interim Head Coach Of Afghanistan

Former Australian cricketer Stuart Law has been named as the interim head coach of the Afghanistan men's team for the upcoming limited-overs series against Bangladesh, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced on Saturday.

The 53-year old takes over from Lance Klusener, who decided to step away from the role on mutual agreement in September 2021.

Law, who played a solitary Test in 1995, had a more productive ODI career for Australia, featuring in 54 games from 1994 to 1999 including the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996, making 1237 runs and having one hundred and 7 half-centuries to his name. The batter also captained Queensland to five Sheffield Shield titles and two one-day trophies, making him the most successful captain in Australian domestic cricket and he is also considered as Queensland's all-time leading run-scorer in first-class cricket.

After his tenure as a cricketer, Law took to coaching roles at different levels, the biggest of them being the batting consultant for the Australian team. After the 2011 World Cup, Law briefly acted as Sri Lanka's interim coach before being appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh in 2011-2012.

He led Bangladesh to their first Asia Cup final but stood down nine months into the job. He took over as coach of Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat in 2013. He then served as technical advisor to the Bangladesh Under-19 side at the 2016 U-19 World Cup, before taking charge as the head coach of the West Indies Cricket Team on a two-year contract.

Law has already linked up with the Afghanistan side, who are currently undergoing a preparation and conditioning camp in Bangladesh ahead of the start of the ODI series against the home side. The first of the three ODIs is scheduled to be played on February 23, with the 2nd and 3rd ODI to be played on 25 and 28. The two T20Is are scheduled for March 3 and 5 respectively.

According to the ACB, the board has launched the recruitment process for hiring a new permanent head coach.

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"It's to mention that the ACB has launched the recruitment process for hiring a new head coach and is looking forward to having the services of another reasonable option as the permanent head coach of Afghanistan for the upcoming events," the ACB said in a statement.