Afghanistan sign former PNG coach for new academy

Afghanistan have roped in the former Papua New Guinea coach, Peter Anderson, as the coach of the newly established National Cricket Academy in Kabul. Anderson, who has played 56 first-class matches for Queensland and South Australia, had served as the coach of PNG for the past two years during which he oversaw the development of the U-17, U-19, Women's and Men's national teams.

"I am very excited to be involved in helping ACB on its journey to full Test Cricket status," Anderson said. "Afghanistan have some of the most talented, naturally gifted players in the world. Hopefully, I can help the players and coaches achieve their goals of more consistent cricket performances across all specific skills of cricket through my role as National Academy Coach."

The new role will entail coaching coaches, talent identification, improving specific skills, cricket awareness and assisting teams in preparation for tournaments and broadly, Anderson said, "setting up a structure, so the Academy becomes an important part of the cricket pathway in Afghanistan, from school cricket, U-19, "A" Team all the way to the National Team."

During his tenure, PNG rose from 19th to 16th in the world rankings. PNG also finished fourth in the recently concluded World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand as a result of which, they gained ODI status and ICC high performance funding for the next four years. Under Anderson's leadership, PNG also maintained their top ranking in the EAP (East Asia Pacific) region, winning all their regional tournaments.

"We are pleased to be welcoming a person of Peter Anderson's caliber to head our new National Cricket Academy," Noor Mohammad Murad, the Afghanistan Cricket Board chief executive, said. "He brings to us years of experience in the cricket world both in Australia and internationally."