Jonathan Trott to take over as head coach of Pretoria Capitals

Jonathan Trott has been announced as the new head coach of Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, replacing Graham Ford who left the role last month.

Trott is currently head coach of Afghanistan, a post he has held since 2022, and had his deal renewed in January to run through to the end of 2024. At this stage, there is uncertainty as to whether the 43-year-old will continue. With the SA20 taking place in January 2025, there is no real clash between the job and his international commitments. There is no confirmation yet on whether Trott would renew his contract which is due to expire in December.

The Capitals are amid a broader shake-up after Ricky Ponting was let go ending his seven-year association with the Delhi franchise. Pretoria's decision to move on from Ford came after a difficult second season in which they won just three matches and finished fifth. They were losing finalists in the competition's first edition in 2023 after topping the table.

Trott's time at Afghanistan has been a success, with a drastic improvement in the team's results at global events. Despite their talent in the shorter formats, they had won just one match in an ICC tournament - both 50-over and T20 - before beating Australia, England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh in the last nine months across the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20I World Cups. They made it through to the semi-finals of the latter, losing to South Africa.

Trott may also be in consideration for England's limited-overs job but is thought to be an outside bet with a decision to be made in the coming days on the future of incumbent head coach Matthew Mott. Trott earned 127 caps for England, and has previously coached on the pathway, both for the Under-19 and Lions teams.