Afghanistan cricket boycott: What has happened so far in debate over Champions Trophy fixture?

The issue has come to light following the Tailban’s assault on women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the group returned to power in 2021.

Women were banned from universities, parks and sports. The Taliban raided the homes of female athletes and many women’s cricketers fled Afghanistan for their safety.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) requires its full members, of which Afghanistan is one, to have a national women’s team, but the men’s team has retained its Test status, reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year and qualified for the latest global tournament, the Champions Trophy.

In January, a cross-party letter, signed by nearly 200 UK politicians, was sent to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) calling for England to refuse to play the match.

In response, the ECB called for unified action led by the ICC.

ECB chief executive Richard Gould wrote to the global governing body calling for more action over what he called “gender apartheid”.

He stopped short of asking for a boycott but did ask the ICC to place an “immediate condition” on Afghanistan’s full member status to provide women’s cricket by a certain date.

England have played Afghanistan twice since the Taliban takeover – both at world events run by the ICC. They have not scheduled any bilateral series, which are organised by national cricket boards, against them.

As it stands this match will go ahead.