Afghanistan Cricket Board have expressed disappointment over Cricket Australia’s (CA) postponement of the bilateral T20I series that was scheduled to take place in August this year.

Yesterday (March 19), Cricket Australia announced that they would be postponing their three-match T20I series against Afghanistan due to the worsening conditions of women and girls in the Taliban-led country.

It is the third such incident where Australia have either pulled out or postponed their bilateral commitments with Afghanistan, after the one-off Test in 2021 and the ODI series last year.

ACB responded to CA’s decision with a statement today (March 20), expressing disappointment and reiterating their stance on “neutral and politics-free cricket across the globe”.

“The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) expresses disappointment over Cricket Australia’s decision to postpone yet another bilateral series against Afghanistan and reiterates its stance on neutral and politics-free cricket across the globe,” ACB’s statement read.

“ACB advocates for keeping cricket distinct from political influence, considering the game’s significance in Afghanistan and its connection to the happiness and joy of the Afghan Nation.”

ACB urged the Australian government “not to impose its policies on cricket boards and instead focus on supporting the development of cricket across regions.”

They said that during previous conversations, ACB had proposed “exploring alternative solutions instead of publicly announcing withdrawals”, but CA’s decision to withdraw from the series, which “was approved by the ICC in the presence of the CA delegation, who had agreed to the fixtures” was disappointing.

They reiterated their commitment to “negotiating with the International Cricket Council, Cricket Australia, & other full member countries and adhering to ICC principles to ensure cricket remains free from political influence and supported by all parties involved.”

Cricket Australia has once again postponed a bilateral series against Afghanistan, citing worsening conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan.

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— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 19, 2024

CA in it’s statement on March 19, had said that they were postponing the series on the Australian government’s advice and that they are committed to “supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world”.

“Over the past twelve months CA has continued to consult with the Australian Government on the situation in Afghanistan,” CA’s statement read. “The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.

“CA 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.”

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