Cricket Australia has little option but to cancel the proposed Test against Afghanistan in Hobart, according to former captain Ian Chappell.
In the wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, concerns have been raised over the future of the women’s game in that country.
The deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, told SBS earlier this week that it wasn’t “necessary” for women to play the game, noting “they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this.”
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ICC regulations require Test-playing nations to have both a men’s and women’s team.
Cricket Australia said in a statement yesterday that it would have “no alternative” but to cancel the match if reports about the state of the women’s game in Afghanistan were substantiated.
Chappell noted there were some comparisons with Apartheid, which saw South Africa banned from international sport for two decades, but pointed out that what happens with cricket in Afghanistan is only a secondary concern.
“It’s not good, but the greater problem is what happens with the general population, that’s the biggest issue unfortunately” he told Wide World of Sports.
“To me it’s just going to be impossible to get around the ICC regulation that all Test playing nations must have a women’s side.
“That looks like it’s not going to happen under the Taliban regime.
“You can protest all you like, but I’m not sure it will help, whereas you did feel after a while that the Apartheid protests were helping, even though it took a while.”
A whole generation of South African players missed out an international career during the Apartheid ban, and Chappell fears the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, both ranked in the top five T20 bowlers in the world, will suffer the same fate.
While T20 leagues around the world would welcome the pair, Chappell said the absence of international cricket would leave a huge void.
“Obviously South Africans like Barry Richards and Mike Proctor played a lot of cricket in England, but from my experience with Barry, that was OK to a point, but it wasn’t totally satisfying,” he explained.
“I’m sure the same thing would apply to the Afghan players, it might be good for their bank account, but it won’t fulfil them cricket-wise.”
Cricket Australia has led the way in terms of growing the women’s game, a fact so clearly on display when a crowd of 86,174 watched the home side beat India in the T20 World Cup final at the MCG last year.
“I don’t think CA had any other options than to threaten to cancel the Test, as much as it probably pains them. The whole situation is dreadful, I feel really sorry for the people of Afghanistan, not just the cricketers,” Chappell said.
“I had some contact with the players when they first came into international cricket, at the 2010 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, they all said what most emerging nations say, which was they weren’t just there to make up the numbers.
“And I had the good fortune to see them play a couple of days later, they were outgunned by Australia, but they lived up to what they promised. They really impressed me, particularly when you knew what they’d overcome to get there.
“Some of them had never been on an airplane. Some of the tales were remarkable. It’s just horrible to see what’s going on now.”
While a decision on the Hobart Test match currently appears to rest with Cricket Australia, Chappell said the ICC needs to step in and take the matter out of the hands of individual countries.
“That’s the ideal situation, if the ICC sorts it out, because you don’t want some nations doing one thing, and other nations doing another thing,” he said.
“That would be the best solution, but the ICC’s history of being decisive isn’t great.”
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