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Javed Ahmadi a key player in Afghanistan's cricket World Cup campaign

Javed Ahmadi and the Afghanistan cricket team arrive in Canberra on Saturday ahead of the cricket World Cup. Photo: Jay Cronan

Javed Ahmadi is Afghanistan's answer to "The Big Show" and Australian fast-bowling great Geoff Lawson thinks he'sone of the 10 players to watch at the cricket World Cup.

Ahmadi was born in a refugee camp in Peshawar, with the Pakistan border town proving to be a rich breeding ground for Afghan talent.

The 23-year-old still has family there, after moving back to Afghanistan as a teenager to pursue his cricketing dream.

He's no stranger to Australia and World Cups, having captained his country in the under-19 edition Down Under in 2012, where he was also one of the leading run-scorers. But it was the under-19 edition three years ago when Ahmadi met Lawson, who coached the side for the duration of the tournament.

He was blown away by the honour of making Lawson's Big 10. "Wow, he's my favourite coach from under-19s. We spent 40 days with him in under-19s, he was our head coach for that time in 2012," Ahmadi said.

"It was only 40 days, but he's a nice guy and a very talented coach. Every time he's talking about positivity. That time I was skipper and he was only talking about playing your natural game, what is your style and to play that way. That's why I like him very much."

Ahmadi debuted for the senior side as an 18-year-old and has played 19 one-day internationals.

Afghanistan coach Andy Moles sees him as a key figure in the side, not just as a hard-hitting opening batsman, but also for his athletic fielding and his handy off-spinners. That's why he likened him to Maxwell, who's nickname is the Big Show, whose brutal batting and handy tweakers are making him a key figure in the Australian line-up.

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Javed Ahmadi a key player in Afghanistan's cricket World Cup campaign

February 14th, 2015

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Senators back steps to slow U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

Lawmakers from both parties lined up Thursday behind a military proposal to slow the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, warning that President Obama could jeopardize hard-won gains against the Taliban unless he backs away from his time-based exit plan.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed support for steps now under consideration by the White House that would give Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, leeway to retain additional troops into next year.

If weve learned anything from Iraq, it should be that wars do not end just because politicians say so, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the committee chairman, said during a hearing on U.S. operations in Afghanistan.

Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the panels ranking Democrat, said he thinks that any future reductions in U.S. force levels in Afghanistan should be based on the security conditions at the time of the proposed reductions.

Campbell, who commands a force of 10,600U.S. troops and more than2,000 from allied countries, described considerable progress in Afghanistan more than 13years after foreign forces began battling Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters there.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gen. John. F. Campbell, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, says he has provided his chain of command with options for troop drawdown in 2015. (Reuters)

He said Afghan forces, which now number350,000, have grown stronger, and he expressed confidence that new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would be able to shepherd Afghanistan through a delicate period following the end of the U.S. and NATO combat mission.

But Campbell sought to temper expectations about what his small force will be able to achieve as it mentors Afghan forces and seeks to head off a Taliban comeback under a tight timeline.

We will need to evaluate and prioritize our efforts in light of restricted resources and the limited time available to accomplish our mission, he said in prepared remarks.

The general cited shortcomings of Afghan forces in intelligence, air power and special operations and said the Taliban, emboldened by the departure of most foreign forces, was likely to mount a strong offensive this spring and summer.

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Senators back steps to slow U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

February 14th, 2015

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