Australia postpone another Afghanistan series in protest over women’s rights
Australia have postponed another men’s bilateral series with Afghanistan in protest at the Taliban-ruled country’s treatment of females.
The two nations were due to meet at neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates for three Twenty20 internationals in August, but Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday that the series had been postponed indefinitely because of a “marked deterioration” in rights for women in Afghanistan in recent times.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the Afghanistan women’s team have been disbanded, with some members of the squad now living in exile in Australia. Girls are currently only allowed to attend primary school in Afghanistan, with teenage girls and women barred from entering school and university classrooms. Females are not allowed in parks or gyms, with beauty salons shut.
Since then, Australia have consistently pulled out of bilateral engagements against Afghanistan. They scrapped a planned Test match – which would have been the first between the two nations – shortly after the Taliban seized power in 2021 and then refused to take part in a one-day international series scheduled for March last year. In response, Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s outstanding all-rounder, said he would pull out of Australia’s Big Bash League, which he is a star of, but he later reneged on that threat and has continued to play for Adelaide Strikers.
However, Australia have been prepared to take the field against Afghanistan at International Cricket Council events, including the World Cup in India, which they won last year. The two nations met in Mumbai in November, with Glenn Maxwell playing a staggering innings to help Australia to an unlikely victory that set them on their path to a fifth World Cup win.
CA has previously stated that it sees this as different, because “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”.
A statement from Cricket Australia on Tuesday, about their latest withdrawal, read: “Over the past 12 months CA has continued to consult with the Australian government on the situation in Afghanistan. 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 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. We again thank the Australian government for its support.”
Afghanistan remain a full, Test-playing member of the ICC, despite not maintaining a women’s team, which is one of the stipulations for holding that status. The ICC has thus far resisted calls to strip Afghanistan of full-member status.
