SYDNEY: Cricket Australia has decided to postpone the planned three-match T20I series with Afghanistan due to the “significant deterioration of human rights for women and girls” in the country after consultation with the Australian government.
Australia were due to play three matches against Afghanistan at a neutral venue in the current men’s Future Tours Program in August. But CA decided to postpone the series due to human rights concerns, just as it did for the first Test match between the two nations in 2021 and the proposed ODI series in March 2023.
The decision to postpone the ODI series in 2023 saw Rashid Khan threaten to withdraw from the BBL, although he backed off that threat and entered the BBL draft before missing the tournament due to injury.
CA released a statement on Tuesday saying it had consulted with the Australian government on human rights conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan and had received information that there had been a “significant deterioration” in women’s rights since they postponed the 2023 series. Over the past 12 months CA continued to consult with the Australian Government on the situation in Afghanistan,” the statement said. “Government advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are deteriorating. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.”
“CA continues its strong commitment to supporting the participation of women and girls in cricket worldwide and will continue to actively engage the ICC and work closely with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to determine what measures could be taken to support the resumption of bilateral matches in the future.”
Australia have played Afghanistan in two World Cup matches in the last two years, prompting criticism from Naveen-ul-Haq on social media. CA had previously said it would not boycott playing Afghanistan at ICC events because “there is a difference between playing bilateral series against Afghanistan, which are under the control of CA, and playing in a World Cup tournament, which is an ICC event and subject to their regulations.”
