Afghanistan cricket officers on Thursday condemned Australia’s resolution to cancel the lads’s one-day worldwide cricket collection.
Cricket Australia cited latest extreme restrictions on ladies’s rights in Afghanistan by the Taliban authorities for canceling three ODIs within the United Arab Emirates in March.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board mentioned it was “extremely disappointed and saddened by Cricket Australia’s pathetic statement” and would lodge a grievance with the International Cricket Council.
It accused CA of prioritizing political pursuits over truthful play and sportsmanship, undermining the integrity of the sport and damaging relations between the 2 nations.
“Cricket has played an important role in promoting unity and national pride in Afghanistan,” the board mentioned. “After years of warfare and battle, cricket has helped convey individuals collectively and supply a way of normalcy to the nation. It has additionally been an necessary supply of hope and inspiration for all Afghans, particularly the youth.
It mentioned it could re-think the participation of Afghan gamers within the Big Bash League if the choice was not reversed.
Afghan quick bowler Naveen-ul-Haq Murid referred to as the ending of the collection “childish” and accused Australia of taking away the one purpose for the Afghans’ happiness, slightly than being useful.
When Kabul fell underneath the Taliban in 2021, ladies have been banned from taking part in the game on the grounds that doing so would violate Islamic legal guidelines, which require their hair and pores and skin to be lined.
Citing latest Taliban restrictions on ladies and women’ schooling, employment alternatives and their means to entry parks and gymnasiums, Cricket Australia referred to as off the lads’s ODIs after session with the Australian authorities and different teams.
“CA is committed to promoting the sport for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of better conditions for women and girls in the country,” CA mentioned.
Australia cited comparable causes for pulling out of the one-off Test towards Afghanistan in November 2021 in Hobart, Australia.
In December, the Taliban banned ladies from finishing increased schooling, a month earlier banning attendance at gyms and parks.
Women are additionally banned from attending faculty after the sixth grade and from doing most work exterior their properties.
In November 2021, the ICC shaped a working group with the intention of supporting and reviewing ladies’s and males’s cricket in Afghanistan, however after greater than a 12 months, the nation stays the one Full Member of the ICC with out a totally operational ladies’s staff. It is made up. Afghanistan can also be the one Full Member to not be represented on the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa beginning this week.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
