File photo of the Afghanistan cricket team. (Photo by AFP) New Delhi: While a sense of humor may not be of much value in the average workplace, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) clearly values this trait highly. That and the “use current Microsoft Office products” option.The ACB mentioned that he has a “sense of humour” among his core competencies, which are necessary to become the head coach of the national team following Jonathan Trott’s tenure, which ends after the 2026 T20 World Cup. The job requirements further mention the need for candidates who “encourage breaking boundaries and view players through a holistic lens”. “Use video analytics and performance metrics to evaluate progress and conduct ‘lessons learned’ reviews after each major assignment,” read another expectation for the head coaching role.Even the list of requirements to become the spin bowling coach of the national team requires an individual to be willing to carry out the tasks assigned by the “line supervisor”. Assisting the performance analyst in ‘finding the opposition players’ is another interesting job entrusted to the spin bowling team coach. “Is this a joke?” read X’s reaction to ACB’s social media post listing national team vacancies.Former England cricketer and current Afghanistan head coach Trott recently expressed his frustration with the ACB’s operational style. “The sad thing for me is the fact that I couldn’t have any information about the squad. I didn’t have any communication with the ACB top management or the chief selector. So that’s one of the things that I think as a coach you should have a bit of an idea or a bit of input. When you don’t have the input that I had, it’s sad.”“I’ve been trying to get them for the last couple of weeks. And chairman, I’ve been trying to get hold of him and I haven’t been able to get any comments back on the selection because we haven’t been able to get the last couple of teams since the Asia Cup,” Trott added. Afghanistan have not made much of an impact at the 2025 Asian Cup, registering just one win in three matches. The disappointing show came just a year after he peaked in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
