The Test match between Australia and Afghanistan in Hobart is on the verge of being cancelled. The newly-elected Taliban government has stated that they will not allow women’s cricket in Afghanistan to flourish.
Cricket Australia has said that if the reports of the Taliban’s stance on women’s cricket were accurate, they would have no other option but to cancel the test match against Afghanistan.
“Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia,”
“Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all, and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level.
“If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart.”
the statement said.
The historic Test match has been in the making for some time now and was set to take place on November 27 after the T20I World Cup.
Ahmadullah Wasiq, a spokesperson for the Taliban government’s cultural commission said that according to Islamic values, women should remain covered at all times. While playing cricket, there is a chance that a woman’s face gets exposed, and they cannot allow this to happen under any circumstance.
Wasiq went on to say that in the current generation of media, photos and videos are taken frequently, and then the whole world will take notice of it. He added that they would stay firm on their beliefs even if the Hobart test match is at risk of being cancelled as, for them, the Islamic values come before anything else.
In response to these comments, Australia’s sports minister Richard Colbeck told ABC Radio that no decision had been made yet regarding the cancellation of the planned match against Afghanistan.
Richard Colbeck urged ICC to intervene and take matters into their own hands. He claimed that the Taliban’s ruling against women’s cricket is unacceptable. He hinted at the possibility of ICC cancelling Afghanistan’s membership altogether, which would be a massive step if done.
The ICC has also expressed its views on this topic of interest. They have given Afghanistan assurance that the recent events will not affect their involvement in the upcoming T20I World Cup. However, to maintain its status as an ICC member, Afghanistan will have to lift its restrictions on women’s cricket.
“The ICC is committed to the long-term growth of women’s cricket, and despite the cultural and religious challenges in Afghanistan, steady progress has been made in this area since Afghanistan’s admission as a Full Member in 2017,”
said the ICC statement.
The statement also touched on the fact that ICC has been monitoring the current situation in Afghanistan and is very concerned that women will not be allowed to play cricket in the future.
If Afghanistan’s test status has to be suspended, a two-thirds majority vote will be required within ICC’s 17-member board.
There has been a history of cricket-related problems in Afghanistan. The ban on the sport was lifted in 2000. In 2001, Afghanistan received associate member status, and within ten years, it was playing in its first-ever Cricket World Cup. By 2017, Afghanistan was recognised as a test team.
Over the last few years, the quality of cricket in Afghanistan has been on the rise. If the ICC were to sanction a ban over Afghanistan, it would be detrimental to many young cricketers in the nation.
