Shane McDermott, the former Australian wicketkeeper-batter, has been appointed the new assistant and fielding coach of Afghanistan. McDermott, 45, will link up with the team on August 1, ahead of their five-match ODI series against Ireland.
McDermott will work with head coach Richard Pybus, who replaced Jonathan Trott in February earlier this year.
McDermott has held several fielding-specific coaching positions in a number of countries, serving as assistant fielding coach in Bangladesh for three years and another three with Sri Lanka. His most recent assignment was with Pakistan as their all-format fielding coach from July 2025 to July 2026. His decision to leave the Pakistan job came as a surprise at the time.
Rahmat Shah will lead Afghanistan's ODI team for the first time when they play Ireland on August 5. Afghanistan will begin their series against Ireland in Bready with the first two ODIs on August 5 and 7, before moving on to Belfast for the remaining three games on August 10, 12 and 15.