Stuart Law named Afghanistan's interim head coach for Bangladesh tour

Stuart Law has been named interim head coach of Afghanistan men's team for the upcoming limited-overs series against Bangladesh. The former Australia batter takes over from Lance Klusener, who decided to step away from the role on mutual agreement in September 2021.

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

Law, who played a solitary Test in 1995, had a more productive ODI career for Australia, featuring in 54 games from 1994 to 1999, making 1237 runs. He was also a prolific batter in Australian domestic cricket and is the third all-time highest run-getter for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.

He took to coaching roles at different levels following his retirement, starting with being appointed as Sri Lanka interim coach before the 2011 World Cup. He was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh in 2011-2012 and he led the side to their first Asia Cup final.

After a few stints with various domestic and Under-19 sides, he took charge as West Indies' head coach on a two-year contract in 2017. He also served as a consultant with the Australian team in 2016. His most recent permanent role was with Middlesex in the UK, and he has recently coached Bangla Tigers and Dambulla Giants in the Abu Dhabi T10 and Lanka Premier League respectively.

Law has already linked up with the Afghanistan side, who are currently undergoing a preparation and conditioning camp in Bangladesh ahead of start of the ODI series on February 23. The second and third ODIs are set to be played on February 25 and 28, while the two T20Is are scheduled for March 3 and 5.

Afghanistan have made a number of changes to both their squads for the tour. Senior players Mohammad Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan and Hashmatullah Shahidi have been dropped from the T20I squad, while the likes of Sharafuddin Ashraf and Usman Ghani have been removed from the ODI squad.