Andy Pick assists Afghanistan World Cup preparations

Former Nottinghamshire fast bowler Andy Pick has been appointed Afghanistan's bowling consultant for a fortnight's stint at a pre World Cup camp. He will join the team later this week in the UAE, where they are scheduled to play matches against Scotland and Ireland, with the possibility of continuing the links with the team leading into the World Cup.

Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman Nasimullah Danish said Pick's experience with other teams made him the right man for the job. "We hope to see his skills [being replicated by] our national team players. We have observed Andy's career graph as a successful coach and then we came up with this decision collectively. The board is very thankful and fortunate to have him."

Pick, 51, had played 195 first-class matches, taking 495 wickets at 33.24, before taking to coaching. Apart from helping nurture Alastair Cook in school cricket, he had worked with the England Under-19s and the Canada national team and had a short stint working on cricket in the USA - he quit his post as high performance manager with the USA Cricket Association after two months, citing incidents which were not in line with how a professional organisation should operate. Later, he was appointed bowling coach with Nottinghamshire.