After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and the new theocratic Islamic regime declared that the Islamic Emirate will not allow women to play sport, it is most likely that the first Test match between the men’s teams of Australia and Afghanistan will be called off.

Taliban government’s cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, told Australian broadcaster SBS News that cricket was not permitted for women under Islamic law and, “Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed. “In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this. It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it.”

He then added that the Islamic regime will not change its stance on the women’s game even if that means the cancellation of the Hobart Test: “Even for this, if we face challenges and problems, we have fought for our religion so that Islam is to be followed. We will not cross Islamic values even if it carries opposite reactions. We will not leave our Islamic rules.”

Immidietlay a statement released on Thursday (September 9), by Cricket Australia confirmed it would be unable to proceed with the planned Test at Hobart from November 27 and the statement read, “Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia,” the statement said. “Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level. If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart,”.

Australia’s Federal Sports Minister Senator Richard Colbeck urged the International Cricket Council to take a stand against the Taliban and during an interview with ABC Radio on Thursday, Senator Colbeck said, “The Taliban’s attitudes towards women and their individual rights should not be accepted by the international sporting community,”.

“Excluding women from the sport at any level is unacceptable. We urge international sport authorities, including the International Cricket Council, to take a stand against this appalling ruling. At the end of the day, International Cricket is controlled by the ICC and it’s not just about this Test match. The ICC is going to have to make a decision about Afghanistan’s membership.”

Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed concern over the Taliban regime’s ban on women in sports that could foreshadow further events after the completion of the T20 World Cup.

Also, to hold full-member ICC status, nations must field both men’s and women’s teams and in lew of the Taliban banning women’s cricket, the Afghanistan men’s team’s involvement in the T20 tournament in the UAE and Oman is now under question.

“The ICC is committed to the long-term growth of women’s cricket and despite the cultural and religious challenges in Afghanistan, steady progress has been made in this area since Afghanistan’s admission as a Full Member in 2017,” the ICC statement said.

“The ICC has been monitoring the changing situation in Afghanistan and is concerned to note recent media reports that women will no longer be allowed to play cricket.”

When Afghanistan was granted men’s Test status in 2017 the ICC had also made it very clear that it is important to field a women’s team provided they committed to growing the game for women and girls.

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