Toby Radford appointed Afghanistan's batting coach

The Afghanistan Cricket Board [ACB] announced on Tuesday (January 13) that they have appointed Toby Radford as their batting coach for the national cricket team. Radford will replace Andrew Puttick as batting coach and is expected to join the squad ahead of the upcoming three-match T20I series against the West Indies.

ACB also appointed Robert Ahmun as the new strength & conditioning trainer and he too will join the squad ahead of the team's last T20I series before the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled in India and Sri Lanka. The duo have been appointed for a period of one year.

Afghanistan will play West Indies in a three-match T20I series, with the matches being scheduled to take place on January 19, 21, and 22 in Dubai.

Radford is a well-known Welsh cricket coach and former first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex and Sussex and is widely recognized for his expertise as an ECB Level 4 certified coach and brings an extensive coaching portfolio to the role.

Radford, who is currently working as head coach of Dhaka Capitals, served as the batting coach for the Pakistan Cricket Board's High Performance Centre (2022-2024) and previously as the head of High Performance for the Bangladesh Cricket Board (2020-2022).

Notably, Radford was a key figure in the West Indies' coaching staff during their ICC T20 World Cup victory in 2012 and their historic Test series win over England in 2019, during his second stint with the Caribbean side.

Beyond the field, he is an influential educator as an ECB coach mentor and the author of the best-selling cricket book, Getting to Grips.

On the other hand, Ahmun, hailing from Cardiff, Wales, is an elite strength & conditioning (S&C) specialist. He most recently served as the Head of Performance Science and Medicine for the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Ahmun took charge of that position in December 2022, and, since then, has overseen the physical preparation and medical services for England's national cricket teams.

With over two decades of experience in elite sports S&C, Ahmun's career includes serving as the ECB's National Lead for Strength and Conditioning (2017-2022) and coaching within the England Pathways program. He has also published extensive research on topics such as the 'Association of daily workload, wellness, injury and illness during tours in international cricketers', 'The impact of all-rounders and team injury status on match and series success', and 'Variability and physical demands of international seam bowlers in ODI and T20I matches'.

Ahmun holds an MSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Wales, Cardiff (2003) and a bachelor's degree from the University of Exeter (1998).

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