Afghanistan board discusses resuming training with captain, head coach

The training camp will be held this month in Kabul while adhering to guidelines of WHO and the country's Ministry of Public Health, says Afghanistan cricket board.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) leadership on Tuesday discussed the resumption of training with the skipper Asghar Afghan and head coach Lance Klusener.

Afghanistan Cricket Board, in a tweet, said that the training camp will be held this month in the national capital, Kabul while adhering to the guideline of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the country's Ministry of Public Health.

"ACB leadership held a video conference with Head Coach Lance Klusener, Chief Selector Andy Moles, Skipper Asghar Afghan and some ACB officials as they discussed the training camp in June which shall be held in Kabul as per guidelines by WHO and Ministry of Public Health," the Board tweeted.

 Cricket Australia, on May 28, announced its 2020-2021 men's and women's international schedule. As per the schedule, Australia will take on Afghanistan in a one-off Test at Perth Stadium, beginning from November 21.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on sports across the globe. Several events have either been postponed or cancelled due to the deadly virus.

The T20 World Cup is also under threat because of the virus. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday deferred a decision on 'all agenda items' until June 10.

Coronavirus: Afghanistan cricket board announces 25% pay cut for coaches

Head coach Lance Klusener, batting coach HD Ackermann and assistant coach Nawroz Mangal are among those impacted by the decision.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a 25 per cent pay cut of the coaching staff in May to deal with the financial crisis emerged due to coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Head coach Lance Klusener, batting coach HD Ackermann and assistant coach Nawroz Mangal are among those impacted by the decision.

According to a report in cricket website ESPNcricinfo, salary cut could jump to 50 per cent in June if its tour to Zimbabwe in June will get cancelled.

"This is part of our cost saving strategy as we have been also impacted by the Covid-19 crisis," ACB chief executive Lutfullah Stanikzai said.

"We have decided to cut 25 per cent (of the salary for the coaches) for May, 50 per cent for June if we are not able to resume international cricket. We will try and keep them for as long as our financial situation allows," he added.

Stanikzai said the   re has been a loss of revenue for them and they will be negatively impacted if the T20 World Cup -- slated to be held in Australia in October-November -- does not go as planned.

"We are just trying to save costs wherever we can. There has been a loss of revenue for us - the government grant we receive is at risk because the government is spending that on dealing with the pandemic," he said.

"We are not 100 per cent sure the Asia Cup will take place and the revenue we will receive from there. If there are problems with the T20 World Cup, that will also impact us negatively going forward to next year and beyond," he added.

Although Afghanistan's next official assignment is the Asia Cup, the ACB and Zimbabwe Cricket have agreed to play five T20Is in Zimbabwe, which isn't part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP).