Cricket Australia (CA) warned to cancel the Test match against Afghanistan in November if women are not allowed to play the sport under the Taliban regime.
The updated stance from CA follows the developments on Wednesday where the Taliban indicated that women would not be able to participate in sport, including cricket.
In a statement released on Thursday, Cricket Australia confirmed it would be unable to proceed with the planned Test at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena from November 27 if news reports of Taliban views on the women’s game were true.
“Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia,” the statement said.
“Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level.”
“If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart,” it added.
The ICC has said that Afghanistan’s status in the international game will be discussed at their next board meeting but that is not scheduled until November, which raises further questions about their participation in the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan is the only Full Member to have received that status without having an operational women’s team in place. Last year, the Afghanistan Cricket Board had announced their first contracts for women as they looked to build a team.
