Australia threatens cancelling the one-off test match against Afghanistan
Cricket Australia has taken the decision to cancel the historic first test match between the two nations if the Taliban government bans Women’s cricket in Afghanistan.
Australia takes its stance
Australia has threatened to cancel the historic first test match between Australia and Afghanistan. The nation’s cricketing body has come to this conclusion as an opposition to the Afghan government’s decision to ban women’s cricket.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last month the future of women’s sport has been under threat with those concerns confirmed on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Taliban’s cultural commission spoke to the SBS News. He said that Islam does not allow women to play cricket or any other where they get exposed.
Taliban have insisted Afghanistan will be governed under a strict interpretation of Sharia Law, since their takeover, last month.
Cricket Australia has been firm in its opinion on Women’s cricket. It feels supporting women’s games is very important and it would cancel the men’s game against Australia if women are denied their rights.
The cricketing body has stated that its vision for cricket is that the sport is for all, regardless of gender. It also reaffirms that Australia, without any doubt, supports women’s cricket at every level.
Future of Afghan cricket
The International Cricket Council will be discussing, in its next meeting, the future of Afghanistan in the sport.
Afghanistan was granted full membership to the ICC and Test match playing status in 2017. Although, at the time, the nation did not have a functioning women’s cricket program. The ICC granted it an exemption regarding fielding a women’s team. The international cricketing body wanted the nation, committed to growing the game for women and girls.
Richard Colbeck, Australia’s federal minister for sport, has confirmed that Australia’s stance has been reported to the ICC. Mr.Colbeck said that Australia will not support excluding women from any sport at any level. He also urged other world bodies to take a stance on the issue.
The Taliban, last week, announced they would allow the men’s cricket team to play in the test match.
The test match between Australia and Afghanistan was to be played at Hobart in November this year.