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regular-article-logo Thursday, 03 October 2024

Test off over women’s game cloud

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Friday it has postponed the Afghanistan Test in Hobart on November 27 until the situation regarding the women’s game in the South Asian nation becomes clearer

Reuters Melbourne Published 06.11.21, 04:21 AM
Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan File photo

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Friday it has postponed the Afghanistan Test in Hobart scheduled to begin on November 27 until the situation regarding the women’s game in the South Asian nation becomes clearer.

CA had said in September it would scrap the Test if the Taliban government, which took power in August, did not allow women and girls to play the sport.

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“Following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, Cricket Australia and the Afghanistan Cricket Board have agreed to postpone the inaugural men’s Test match against Afghanistan,” CA said in a statement.

“CA is committed to support growing the game for women and men in Afghanistan and around the world, however, given the present uncertainty, CA felt it necessary to postpone the Test match until a later time when the situation is clearer.”

The remarkable rise of Afghanistan in cricket in recent years has been the sport’s biggest fairytale but the strife-torn nation risks isolation following the country’s Taliban takeover.

Taliban officials have said they will not repeat the harsh rule of their previous government, which banned most girls’ education and forbade women from going out in public without a male guardian.

The Afghan cricket board has requested the support of other full members of the International Cricket Council.

Afghanistan’s status is set to be discussed at an ICC meeting on the sidelines of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Despite the Test postponement, CA said it looked forward to hosting Afghanistan players — “who are great ambassadors for the game” — in Australia’s upcoming domestic T20 competition, the Big Bash League. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan is of course the biggest of them all.

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