Cricket Australia confirmed it would be unable to proceed with the Test if news reports of Taliban views on the women's game were true.
Afghanistan cricket has been facing dark times especially after the historic Test match between them and Australia, which is scheduled to take place later this year in Hobart, may not take place.
Since it has been reported that women's cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, Cricket Australia (CA) made it clear the Test will be also be cancelled. This would be Australia and Afghanistan’s first meeting in the longest format.
Cricket Australia confirmed it would be unable to proceed with the planned Test from November 27 if news reports of Taliban views on the women's game were true.
"Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia. Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level. If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart.
"We thank the Australian and Tasmanian Governments for their support on this important issue," CA's statement said
Speaking about this decision by Cricket Australia, Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Hamid Shinwari expressed disappointment on Friday (September 10). Shinwari did acknowledge Australian cricket's point of view but added that an alternate solution can be found out.
While CA have made their point clear, Shinwari was quoted as saying by Outlook, "It was with shock and immense disappointment that the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) received the sudden and unexpected news from Cricket Australia of the potential cancellation of the Australia-Afghanistan Cricket Test Match scheduled for November 27. We believe there is an alternative to cancelling this significant, history-making, Test match.
"We accept that Cricket Australia (CA) sees cricket as 'a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level’. We understand, too, why 'if recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated’, CA might believe they have 'no alternative’ but to refuse to host the scheduled Test match. We believe, however, that there is an alternative," he added.
The ACB further added that penalizing the national team isn't fair. "The ACB is powerless to change the culture and religious environment of Afghanistan. If the CA decides to cancel the Test match and isolate the Afghan men’s national team, it will have no impact upon those cultural and religious values as they stand," he said.
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