Cricket Australia has postponed a T20I series against Afghanistan which is scheduled in August due to deteriorating human rights for women and girls.
CA Postpones Afghanistan T20I Series
Cricket Australia announced the postponement of the three-match T20I international series against Afghanistan. This is not the first time Cricket Australia to postponed a match or series.
While speaking about the T20I series postponement, CA said it would “continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country”.
“The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan,” CA said in a statement.
“CA continues its strong commitment to supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world and will continue to actively engage the International Cricket Council and work closely with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to determine what actions could be taken to support the resumption of bilateral matches in the future,” the statement added.
CA has canceled a single Test match against Afghanistan, which was originally scheduled to be played in Hobart on November 21. They have also withdrawn from the three-match ODI series which is set to be held in March 2023.
In response to the decision, Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan threatened to abandon the BBL before reverting his decision and joining Adelaide Strikers before missing the tournament due to injury.
“If playing vs Afghanistan is so uncomfortable for Australia, then I wouldn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable with my presence in the BBL. Therefore, I will be strongly considering my future in that competition,” Rashid posted on social media at the time.
On this occasion, the International Cricket Council CEO Geoff Allardice, said that ICC would continue to support Afghanistan.
“We have spoken with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and their position is they have to operate within the laws of the country and the rules as set by the government, and really the question for the ICC Board is ‘do we support our member in their ability to promote cricket within the rules set by the government of the country?’, and the view is yes.”
Afghan paceman Naveen-ul-Haq wrote on social media that “it will be interesting to see (where) (C)ricket Australia stand in the World Cup #standards #human rights or 2 points”.
But CA replied, “There is a distinction between playing bilateral series against Afghanistan which falls under CA control as compared to playing in a World Cup tournament which is an ICC event and subject to their regulations.”
Despite these things, Australia has played against Afghanistan at ICC-run tournaments, most recently at the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup in India where Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten double century which led to the victory of Australia in the match.
