Following additional Taliban limitations on the rights of women and girls, Australia’s men’s team has withdrawn from their March One-Day International (ODI) series against Afghanistan, according to Cricket Australia (CA).
Three One-Day Internationals between Australia and Afghanistan were set to take place in the United Arab Emirates, but CA decided against it following “extensive consultation” with all relevant parties, including the Australian government.
This choice was made in response to the Taliban’s recent declaration of additional limitations on women’s and girls’ access to parks and gyms, work possibilities, and education, CA stated in a statement on Thursday.
“CA is dedicated to advancing the sport for both sexes around the globe, especially in Afghanistan. We will keep working with the Afghanistan Cricket Board as we anticipate better conditions for women and girls there.
“We appreciate the Australian government’s help in this case,”
The tournament was a part of the ICC Super League, in which the top eight teams automatically go to the 2023 World Cup. Australia has already earned a spot in the competition.
Australia and Afghanistan were supposed to play a Test match in November 2021, but the match was canceled when the Taliban took control of the country in August of that year.
The only ICC full member country still without a women’s squad is Afghanistan. However, they have continued to participate in ICC competitions after the Taliban took control, and they played Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup last year.
Geoff Allardice, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, stated that the ICC is concerned about Afghanistan’s lack of support for women’s cricket and that the issue will be revisited at the ICC’s next board meeting.
Since the shift in the regime, “our board has been monitoring progress,” Allardice stated. “It is concerning that Afghanistan is not making progress, and our board will discuss this issue at its upcoming meeting in March. As far as we can tell, nothing is happening right now.
For the series, Australia will give up 30 competition points that count toward World Cup qualification. However, they have already qualified automatically for the 50-over competition in India in October.
Midway through 2021, the Taliban took back control of Kabul and promptly imposed limitations on female athletes.
The ban on women attending universities and the exclusion of young girls from secondary schools by the new rulers last month sparked anger around the world. Additionally, women have been barred from gyms and parks.
Women were recently informed that they could no longer work in the assistance industry in Afghanistan.
