Cricket Australia. (Photo: Twitter/@CricketAus)
The Afghanistan cricket team’s recent impressive performance in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup might have earned them accolades from across the globe, but the semifinal finish isn’t enough to convince Cricket Australia for a bilateral series against Australia for some non-cricketing reasons.
Reiterating its stance, Cricket Australia said that Australia will not play bilateral cricket with Afghanistan because of the Taliban government’s stance regarding the rights of women.
CA chief executive Nick Hockley said that there has been “regular dialogue” with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on the matter, and hoped that the sides resume playing each other “sometime in the future”.
“They (Afghanistan) had a fantastic tournament with phenomenal players, and they played with great passion and spirit. Regarding our bilateral matches, we have consulted extensively with stakeholders, including the Australian government, and chose to postpone our last couple of series with Afghanistan Cricket Board on human-rights grounds,” Hockley said.
“We maintain a close relationship and regular dialogue with the Afghanistan Cricket Board, and want to see cricket thrive worldwide for both men and women. We hope for a level of progress, and continue to discuss and maintain contact with the Afghanistan Cricket Board, aiming to resume bilateral cricket against Afghanistan at some point in the future,” Hockley added.
Australia have withdrawn from playing Afghanistan in bilateral series thrice, citing “a marked deterioration in human rights for women and girls”, but have continued to face them at ICC events. In the aftermath of Afghanistan’s famous victory over Australia in the T20 World Cup last month, Usman Khawaja found CA’s stance as “a little bit hypocritical”.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan had also commented on the situation after the World Cup match, saying he wished they “could do something” to solve the problem.
Hockley’s comments came after 17 Afghanistan women players, contracted by the ACB in 2020 before the Taliban takeover, on Monday wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking for assistance in setting up a refugee team based in Australia. The team wants to be administered by the East Asian Cricket office in Australia, and not play under the ACB banner or be called the Afghanistan national team.
“We understand that the Afghanistan women based in Australia have written to the ICC. That’s a matter for the ICC to consider. We have meetings coming up in Colombo in July, and I’m sure it will be a topic of conversation. The Afghan women residing in Australia are engaged with the cricketing community, and they’re receiving excellent support from across the community. But it’s not something we were directly involved in,” Hockley said.