Australia shun Afghanistan, Proteas series goes ahead

Cricket Australia’s recent decision to postpone a bilateral men’s ODI series against Afghanistan has thrown the spotlight on South Africa’s decision to proceed with their own three-match ODI series against the Taliban-controlled nation in the UAE which starts on September 18.

The decision was prompted from the Taliban’s refusal to sanction the participation by women and girls in cricket or any other sports.

It is the third time Australia have postponed matches against Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed control in September 2021 – a one-off test match had been scheduled in Hobart two months after the take-over and another three-match ODI series was scheduled for August last year.

A statement from CA said they had relied on advice from their national government: “The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse.

“CA continues its strong commitment to supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world and will continue to actively engage the ICC 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,” the statement concluded.

The South African Cricketers’ Association (Saca) issued a statement of their own on Thursday in which they, too, insisted that women and girls should be encouraged to play sport but that it also “…recognises and acknowledges the importance of Cricket South Africa negotiating comprehensive Future Tours Programmes to ensure that our national teams are competing at the highest level.

“The Proteas Men white-ball series against Afghanistan later this month is one such series that forms part of the FTP. While Cricket Australia has postponed series against Afghanistan to date, CSA has elected to proceed with this series.

“However, on behalf of all professional cricketers in South Africa, it is incumbent upon Saca to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and promoting the participation of women in cricket. The deteriorating human rights for women under the Taliban rule cannot be ignored in the context of cricket,” the statement said.

Andrew Breetzke, Saca CEO and World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) Board Member, said: “WCA and Saca do not condone any situation in which women’s players are excluded from competing in our sport. Every athlete has the right to equality of opportunity which is protected by international law and set out in the Universal Declaration of Player Rights.

“That means each player has the right to equality of opportunity in the pursuit of sport, free of discrimination, harassment and violence. A player’s right to pursue sport cannot be limited because of his or her gender. We urge CSA to utilise the leverage available to it through this series to highlight that these rights for Afghanistan’s women’s players must be protected and respected,” Breetzke said.