Photo Credit: Facebook Photo of Afghanistan Cricket Board
The Black Caps are currently playing a one-off test match against Afghanistan in India, but the decision has stirred some controversy.
Earlier this year, Cricket Australia canceled a three-match T20 series scheduled for August, following advice from the Australian Government due to concerns over the deteriorating situation for women and girls in Afghanistan.
At the time, Cricket Australia stated: “Cricket Australia 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.”
While Australia has opted not to tour Afghanistan, the team has not taken the same stance in World Cup tournaments where trophies are at stake.
The situation for women and girls in Afghanistan remains severe, with the Taliban recently banning women from speaking in public.
Naseeb Khan, appointed by the Taliban in 2021, currently heads the Afghanistan Cricket Board. Around the same time, the Afghanistan women’s cricket team was disbanded, making Afghanistan the only full member of the International Cricket Council without a women’s team.
Despite the situation, New Zealand Cricket has taken a different approach from Australia by continuing to play and engage with Afghanistan. New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink explained:
“We thought that we could be more effective in advocating for women, and for women’s cricket in Afghanistan by playing, then having the ability to continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board.”
There are increasing calls to form an Afghanistan women’s refugee team based in Australia, a move New Zealand Cricket would support.
“We will help Afghanistani cricket and Afghanistani women’s cricket in any way we can. We’re certainly open to supporting a refugee team,” said Weenink.
Black Caps captain Tim Southee backs New Zealand Cricket’s decision to play the test match.
“It’s a decision that New Zealand cricket have made, and the players association, and us as players we’ve just had to buy into that,” Southee stated.
For Rahim Sediqi, a New Zealand-based Afghanistan cricket fan, the test match brings hope during challenging times for Afghans.
“I’m not actually with the Aussie decision because we don’t want to bring politics into cricket. Cricket is giving happiness to the people. And education is also really important for the girls. We try our best for the girls to go to school. All Afghans want our girls to go to school,” Sediqi said.
Many Afghanistan fans, including Sediqi, are grateful for New Zealand Cricket’s decision to play. He looks forward to the game, hoping for a draw as he supports both teams.
This test marks the start of a busy schedule for the Black Caps, with a two-test series in Sri Lanka following the Afghanistan match, before a three-test series against India back in India.
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The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the governing body for cricket in Afghanistan. It joined the ICC in 2001, became an associate member in 2013, and a full member in 2017. The ACB is also part of the Asian Cricket Council.
