Should England play Afghanistan?

[Line and Length]

England has been drawn to play Afghanistan in this Tournament and the ECB are under considerable political pressure to boycott that fixture due to Afghanistan's connection with the Taliban and the abuse of human rights.
Politics and sport have been closely linked - especially in recent times - but I hope the ECB (and the England players) don't bow to political pressure.

 

[Line and Length]

Just for info there's a Champions trophy sub-forum

Champions Trophy 2025

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will be the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. It will be hosted by Pakistan and United Arab Emirates from 19 February to 9 March 2025.

www.cricketweb.net

I briefly tried to find this but failed. Could a mod shift my OP to this site please

 

[capt_Luffy]

England has been drawn to play Afghanistan in this Tournament and the ECB are under considerable political pressure to boycott that fixture due to Afghanistan's connection with the Taliban and the abuse of human rights.
Politics and sport have been closely linked - especially in recent times - but I hope the ECB (and the England players) don't bow to political pressure.

I will say that not especially in recent times. The biggest political impact cricket ever had was in the 70s during Apartheid.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I will say that not especially in recent times. The biggest political impact cricket ever had was in the 70s during Apartheid.

The fact that India and Pakistan don't play bilaterals shows that politics and cricket still continue to mix very strongly.

 

[capt_Luffy]

The fact that India and Pakistan don't play bilaterals shows that politics and cricket still continue to mix very strongly.

Politics is tied to everything especially international and acting it isn't is very much wishful thinking.

 

[SteveNZ]

You either play Afghanistan or you don't, at any stage. It's hardly a meaningful protest if you play them in an ICC event you want to win, but not in a JAM series. Greg Barclay says as much here:

UK government urges cricket chiefs to ‘deliver on own rules’ after Afghanistan boycott calls

Female participation has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

 

[kevinw]

No point England boycotting if nobody else does. When the Zimbabwe boycott happened was that partly down to government interference in the running of the cricket board? What interest does the Taliban take in Afghan cricket? They don't play there. Are any players based there? If anything it seems like the mens team plays in defiance of the regime.

 

[TheJediBrah]

No point England boycotting if nobody else does. When the Zimbabwe boycott happened was that partly down to government interference in the running of the cricket board? What interest does the Taliban take in Afghan cricket? They don't play there. Are any players based there? If anything it seems like the mens team plays in defiance of the regime.

They don't have a women's team, or let women play at all. Of the many human rights violations, that's the one that directly flouts ICC rules

 

[Qlder]

Confusing thread title for a Champions trophy sub-forum (pretty much covers the whole topic). Should change it to something like " should England play Afghanistan" as per OP?

 

[Molehill]

Confusing thread title for a Champions trophy sub-forum (pretty much covers the whole topic). Should change it to something to do with should teams play Afghanistan as per OP?

Yeah, then I wouldn't have brought up the same subject in the Group thread.

England-Afghanistan boycott calls: MP says players have 'power' to refuse to play Champions Trophy match - BBC Sport

I'll add this article again here. There's no point England refusing to play if no one else will join them. The ICC shouldn't have allowed Afghanistan to qualify in the first place.

 

[Spark]

Confusing thread title for a Champions trophy sub-forum (pretty much covers the whole topic). Should change it to something like " should England play Afghanistan" as per OP?

It was a thread in Cricket Chat before I moved it over. Happy to rename it if @Line and Length has an alternative.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

The ICC really are the most useless governing board in all of sport, this isn't the ECB's problem they should go ahead with the game, the ICC needs to be the ones with questions to answer it's their rules that have been broken and have done nothing about it.

 

[Qlder]

There's no point one team boycotting Afghanistan as you've really hurt your chances to get in the semi finals (only need one loss to be eliminated)

And there's no point all teams boycotting as then Afghanistan would win the Champions Trophy.

ICC should have upheld their own rules and suspended Afghanistan when they stopped allowing women to play cricket

 

[Molehill]

There's no point one team boycotting Afghanistan as you've really hurt your chances to get in the semi finals (only need one loss to be eliminated)

And there's no point all teams boycotting as then Afghanistan would win the Champions Trophy.

ICC should have upheld their own rules and suspended Afghanistan when they stopped allowing women to play cricket

And yet, that's clearly the way to do it. How quickly do you think the ICC would act if that was the likely result? But you know what would happen, everyone would agree to not play and then India would go and sneak a special match in Dubai to decide the winner.

 

[Silver Silva]

I have a solution for Afghanistan cricket after the tournament, maybe it's a bit stupid ..

But since Dubai , Sharjah , Abu Dhabi etc is always touted as neutral venues for Afghanistan , and since Afghanistan cannot play home fixtures , why don't Afghanistan Cricket Board and UAE merge into one team ?

Can call it the Emirates Team..

I mean West Indies have done it.. Guyana is further from Jamaica than Afghanistan is to the UAE with completely different cultures..

This way UAE board can enjoy Test status with Afghanistan and the perks that come with , and Afghanistan women can play in a women's team that the Taliban have no jurisdiction over.

 

[capt_Luffy]

I have a solution for Afghanistan cricket after the tournament, maybe it's a bit stupid ..

But since Dubai , Sharjah , Abu Dhabi etc is always touted as neutral venues for Afghanistan , and since Afghanistan cannot play home fixtures , why don't Afghanistan Cricket Board and UAE merge into one team ?

Can call it the Emirates Team..

I mean West Indies have done it.. Guyana is further from Jamaica than Afghanistan is to the UAE with completely different cultures..

This way UAE board can enjoy Test status with Afghanistan and the perks that come with , and Afghanistan women can play in a women's team that the Taliban have no jurisdiction over.

Don't think Taliban will allow that, at all.

 

[Qlder]

Don't think Taliban will allow that, at all.

Also why would the UAE allow any formal Taliban input into their country?

 

[sledger]

It was a thread in Cricket Chat before I moved it over. Happy to rename it if @Line and Length has an alternative.

"Did Bret really screw Bret?" imo.

 

[Qlder]

So South Africa is first up against Afghanistan, should they play or not? I hope not but I'm sure they will, thus setting the scene for the rest of the tournament

Ironically South Africa with the apartheid ban, the Afghanistan exclusion of women to play is similiar no?

 

[capt_Luffy]

So South Africa is first up against Afghanistan, should they play or not? I hope not but I'm sure they will, thus setting the scene for the rest of the tournament

South Africa refusing to play Afghanistan for political reasons will be oddly full circle.