Ireland v Afghanistan: Irish players can opt out of series, says Graeme West

Cricket Ireland chief executive Sarah Keane said on Friday that the decision to host Afghanistan this summer came with some “moral discomfort” given the plight of women in the country.

Keane, who started in the role this month, is the first permanent female chief executive of an International Cricket Council (ICC) full member nation.

W0hether to proceed with the series was the sole item discussed at a “robust” 90-minute Cricket Ireland board meeting last week before the series was given the green light, albeit not unanimously.

“I want to acknowledge upfront the moral discomfort that I think we all sit with around this decision, and how the regime treats women in particular,” she added.

The new CEO also explained the reasons behind the decision to go ahead with the August series.

“Forty percent of our board are women – the overall decision was that we would play Afghanistan and take our obligations as a full member very seriously.

“But I think the main reason also was that people felt very strongly that if we don't [play the series] the issue kind of goes away, whereas we need to be talking about the displaced Afghan women’s team.

“They’ve also been invited to [play in] Ireland but I don’t think it will happen this year due to scheduling.

“It’s incumbent on us to make sure we look to what we can do and it stays an issue for us and we do highlight their plight.”