Former West Indies all-rounder Phil Simmons will step down as Afghanistan coach after the cricket World Cup, saying his goal had been reached by taking the minnows to the 50-over showpiece.
Simmons, who took over in December 2017, said he will not renew his contract after the World Cup in England and Wales.
“I have thought about it and I have actually given the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) my notice that I will not be renewing my contract,” Simmons told ESPNcricinfo.
“I will move on to something different once my contract expires on July 15.”
With Simmons as coach, the war-torn nation clinched a berth in the 10-team World Cup after beating West Indies in the final of a qualifying tournament last year.
Simmons also guided Afghanistan in their debut in Test cricket in India last year. They beat Ireland to register their first Test win in March.
“I signed up originally for 18 months and I think I have done a lot in this period. It is time for me to move on to something else now. To want to get to the World Cup - that was ACB’s goal at the time they appointed me,” said the 56-year-old Simmons.
“My goal is always to leave things better than when I joined: the way we practise, the way we think about the game, the way we assess other teams. I’ve tried to help the players in all those areas.”
Simmons’ decision to quit comes at the back of the ACB’s controversial change in the side’s leadership, which brought an end to Asghar Afghan’s four-year captaincy stint across all formats.
Gulbadin Naib was appointed ODI captain, while Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan were put in charge of the Test and T20I teams respectively. Simmons said that he had not been consulted about by the ACB and the national selection committee.
“No, I was not aware of it. I was not given any reasons. It was the decision of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and the selectors,” Simmons said.
“How can I take it? I can’t change it. So I have to just get on with what I have to do and make sure the squad is preparing in the same way I wanted them to prepare barring the (captaincy) change.”
On Rashid, the face of Afghan cricket and someone the nation would bank heavily on, Simmons said his lack of wickets in the Indian Premier League would not be a factor, and added the 20-year old leg spinner was a leader.
“The professional that Rashid is, I don’t think the IPL form will play on his mind. His assessment of what he does is so good, that he would sit down and he would still come to the World Cup and take each game at a time.
“The relevance of not picking up wickets in the IPL will not affect him because his experience now at international level tells him that it’s not every day I can take wickets and it’s not every day I have to bowl to get wickets. His professionalism will carry him through this.
“He is a leader. You can see the way he does things on the field even when he is not bowling. These days he has been working a lot on his batting because he knows at some point he might be required to add those 20-30 runs to win a match,” Simmons said.
On the question if he feels batsmen have started to figure him out, Simmons said, “People started to figure out (Anil) Kumble and everyone else, but they still ended up with all those wickets. The bowlers themselves need to assess the batsmen and how they assess what they want to do on the day is important. You have to make sure you have the right plans.”
On off spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who was also ineffective during the IPL and picked an injury, Simmons said, the 18-year old was still learning and would receive guidance from Nabi and Rashid during the tournament.
“He did not play a lot in the IPL, so that is not a concern. Once he starts playing consistently everything will get better. He will get tighter. You have to remember Mujeeb is still a young man in international cricket.
“He is still learning. A lot of time when Nabi and Rashid are around, they help him with his confidence, which helps him bring his game to a level where we want him to be,” the Afghan chief coach said.
Afghanistan will begin their World Cup campaign against defending champions Australia on June 1.
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