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By Paul Newman for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:44 EST, 22 December 2014 | Updated: 03:36 EST, 23 December 2014

Few cricketers have been advised not to take a particular coaching job by the British government for safety reasons. Not to mention by their own brother. But then not many have a position quite like that taken on by Andy Moles.

Moles, a yeoman county cricketer with Warwickshire in the late 80s and early 90s, will coach Afghanistan in the World Cup, which starts in February, against a backdrop of concerns about the wisdom of being a westerner in a volatile part of the eastern world.

My brother is an anti-terrorism expert and hes not happy about this, Moles told Sportsmail. He sends me lots of advice. And when I arrived in Kabul the British Embassy contacted me and said I shouldnt be here. I just said too late.

Coach Andy Moles talks to Afghanistan bowler Dawlat Khan

Not that Moles takes lightly the risks of plying his trade in a volatile country. His first move after being offered the job in September was to check that cricket is approved of by the Taliban it is the only sport in Afghanistan that is and ever since he has taken a pragmatic approach to his presence at the helm of one of best emerging nations in the world game.

Moles, 53, has spent the past 17 years in various coaching roles since the end of a solid but unspectacular career as a Warwickshire opener good enough to score more than 15,000 first-class runs. He said: Twelve years ago there was barely any cricket played in Afghanistan and now theyre at the World Cup.

Thats a real fairy-tale and its great to be part of Afghanistan cricket at this exciting time. The whole country loves their cricket and I went into this with my eyes open. No-one forced me to take the job and I had no reservations about accepting when it was offered to me.

Im not a particularly brave or reckless person and I spend more of my time on the road with the team than I actually do in the country. Ive calculated that I will only be in Kabul for seven weeks from the time I took this job to the end of the World Cup.

Read more:
The Englishman who is leading Afghanistan to the World Cup despite terror threat