London: The England and Wales Cricket Board has called for a unified response to action against Afghanistan amid calls for the England men’s team to boycott next month’s Champions Trophy match between the sides, media reports said.
England are due to face Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February, but UK politicians want the team to refuse to play the 50-over match and take a stand against the Taliban regime’s assault on women’s rights, according to a BBC report.
A letter to the ECB, written by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, and signed by the likes of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and former Labour leaders Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Kinnock, urged England to boycott the match to “send a clear signal” that “such grotesque abuses will not be tolerated”.
Women’s participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and many of Afghanistan’s female players left the country for their own safety, the BBC reported.
International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations state full membership is conditional upon having women’s cricket teams and pathway structures in place.
However, Afghanistan’s men’s team have been allowed to participate in ICC tournaments seemingly without any sanctions, the report said.
In response to the letter signed by group of more than 160 politicians calling for a boycott, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said the governing body “is committed to finding a solution” which “upholds the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.”
“While there has not been a consensus on further international action within the ICC, the ECB will continue to actively advocate for such measures,” he said.
“A coordinated, ICC-wide approach would be significantly more impactful than unilateral actions by individual members.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is in contact with the ECB over the wider issue of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team.
According to reports, England have played Afghanistan three times in one-day internationals and T20 internationals – all at ICC events – and lost their most recent meeting at the 2023 50-over World Cup.
Pakistan and neutral venue Dubai will host the eight-team Champions Trophy from 19 February to 9 March. Australia and South Africa join England and Afghanistan in Group B, while Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh meet in Group A.
