Cricket Australia’s stance against Afghanistan continues as the board has opted to postpone a scheduled three-match T20I series due to human rights issues of women & girls in Afghanistan. The board has decided to postpone the T20I series in consultation with the Australian Government.
Notably, Australia was slated to play three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at a neutral venue in August as part of the current men’s Future Tours Program. But again CA has opted to continue with its stance & postpone the series due to human rights issues of women & girls just as they did for the first Test match between the two nations in 2021 and a proposed ODI series in March 2023.
The decision to postpone the ODI series in 2023 resulted in Rashid Khan threatening to withdraw from the BBL although he backed down from that threat and entered the BBL draft before missing the tournament through injury.
On Tuesday, Cricket Australia released a statement stating that it had consulted the Australian government regarding the human rights conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan and had received information that there had been a “marked deterioration” in rights for women since they postponed the 2023 series.
What was Cricket Australia take on postponing the series against Afghanistan?
The statement highlighted that Cricket Australia (CA) has been in constant consultation with the Australian government over the past year regarding the situation unfolding in Afghanistan. According to the government’s advice, there has been a concerning deterioration in conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan. Due to this troubling development, CA has decided to uphold its previous stance and postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.
Despite this postponement, CA remains steadfast in its commitment to promoting women’s and girls’ participation in cricket globally. The organization pledges to actively collaborate with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and work closely alongside the Afghanistan Cricket Board to explore potential measures that could facilitate the eventual resumption of bilateral matches in the future.
Notably, Australia has played Afghanistan in two World Cup fixtures in the last two years which resulted in criticism from Naveen-ul-Haq on social media. However, CA gave a fitting reply to Afghanistan stating that they would not boycott playing Afghanistan in the ICC events because there is a difference between playing a 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.”
What’s your stance over Cricket Australia’s decision to postpone Afghanistan T20Is over humanitarian grounds? Please share with us in the comments section below!
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