Mick Hartley

England cricket takes a stand.

England will not schedule a bilateral series against Afghanistan as long as the Taliban-ruled country continues to refuse to field a women’s team, according to chief executive Richard Gould.

England have never played a bilateral series against Afghanistan and do not have one scheduled, but the two nations’ men’s teams have met regularly at World Cups since 2015. Gould has revealed they would not schedule a series due to the lack of opportunities for women’s cricketers in the country.

Lack of opportunities for women cricketers is the least of it…but yes.

Since the Taliban took power again in 2021, the Afghanistan women’s team have been disbanded, with members of the squad living in exile in Australia. Girls are currently only allowed to attend primary school in Afghanistan, with teenage girls and women barred from entering school and university classrooms. Females are not allowed in parks or gyms, with beauty salons shut.

England’s stance follows that of Australia, who have cancelled bilateral men’s fixtures against Afghanistan three times since 2021. Earlier this year they called off three ODIs scheduled to be played in the UAE in August, while they also indefinitely postponed the first meeting between Australia and Afghanistan’s Test teams in 2021.

“We do not currently have any cricket against Afghanistan scheduled in a bilateral series,” Gould told The Cricketer. “And I don’t think we would look to schedule Afghanistan in a bilateral series.”

Gould responded “yes” when asked if this was due to Afghanistan’s attitude towards women’s cricket.

“When the Taliban took over in Afghanistan again, they stopped women doing lots of things, including cricket,” Gould said. “At that point, many of the team escaped from Afghanistan and most of them have ended up in Australia, where they have been lobbying the ICC and other interested parties to try and bring back women’s cricket.”

It's a shame, because the sudden passion for cricket in Afghanistan has been a heart-warming story in many ways, and did seem like a possible entry point for a more liberal less strictly Islamic way of life. Sport and Islamic fundamentalism, after all, don't really go together. Tunku Varadarajan on cricket in Pakistan:

Cricket is a potent secular force in Pakistan, a secular lesson. It teaches people that man-made rules can be just, and give satisfaction. It teaches an honor unconnected to religiosity and modesty, tribal slights and vengeance. It teaches that exuberance can be constructive, and that individualism and innovation can be blessings (and, equally, that conservatism can often be dangerous). Cricket allows Pakistanis to play against men from other faiths and lands, and to belong with pride to a sporting commonwealth of cricket-playing nations that is a world away from the aridity of the ummah….

Ah well. Perhaps it can still be that potent secular force in Afghanistan. It's early days…