In a war torn Afghanistan, few cricketers would have taken up the job to coach its team for the World Cup but English man Andy Moles decided to lead minnows despite threats.
The British government has advised not to take coaching job in Afghanistan due to security reasons but Moles has a simple logic, ‘Bad things can happen all over the world and you just have to be as sensible as you can.'
Interestingly Moles' brother is an anti-terrorism expert and he's not happy about his decision.
There are armed guards outside all the Kabul hotels he stays at and he is picked up by a driver whenever he travels to the capital's main cricket centre. ‘I choose not to have any armed convoy because I think it would attract attention, but the biggest worry is when you get caught in traffic because there's nowhere to go then,' he explained.
‘There is a lot of talent here and they play with passion and wear their hearts on their sleeves,' said Moles, a former coach of New Zealand
I'm just here to help people get better with bat and ball. I would have thought there would be more important people to target than Andy Moles.
Afghanistan have had one-day international status since 2011 and became associate members of the ICC last year. But their greatest achievement has been qualifying for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand where Moles will come up against, among others, England.
‘Afghanistan is a very proud and tough nation. You only need to read a history of the country to appreciate what they have gone through. But not many beat the Afghan people.
Afghanistan, who are forced to play their home international games in the emirate of Sharjah, are in the same group as England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka but will fancy their chances against Bangladesh and Scotland.
