The Proteas will play Afghanistan in a bilateral series for the first time, but should they?

Proteas opening batter Reeza Hendricks hit the winning runs with a powerful front foot punch for four against Afghanistan against Afghanistan in a T20 World Cup semifinal on 27 June 2024 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

12 Sep 2024

The Afghanistan Cricket Board was granted full-member ICC status in 2017, but fulfils even less of the criteria for it now than it did then.

South Africa take on Afghanistan in three One Day Internationals (ODI) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, starting on 18 September. It is South Africa’s first series, in any format, against Afghanistan and one many believe should not happen.

Afghanistan – who have been a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2017 – have had a rapid rise to the highest level of the game after being granted international status only in 2011.

proteas afghanistan cricket taliban women Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz (right) celebrates his team’s win in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight cricket match against Australia at Arnos Vale Stadium in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on 22 June 2024. (Photo: Randy Brooks / AFP)

At last year’s 50-over World Cup in India, they were within a miraculous Glenn Maxwell innings of making it to the semifinal stage. And this year, they reached the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and North America, before being thoroughly dismantled by South Africa — who in turn made their first appearance in a World Cup final.

proteas afghanistan women taliban Proteas opening batter Reeza Hendricks hits the winning runs with a powerful front foot punch for four against Afghanistan in their T20 World Cup semifinal on 27 June 2024 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images)

While those historic achievements highlight the national men’s team’s brisk and brilliant ascent, they also accentuate the juxtaposed position the Afghanistan women’s team is in.

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 and with it imposed a series of cruel laws governing the treatment of women in the country. These include the exclusion from education beyond primary school level, being banned from public spaces and mandating head-to-toe clothing, among other restrictions.

Playing cricket, then, is well out of the question for women under the Taliban regime. Despite the Afghanistan Cricket Board contracting 25 women in 2020 – partly to comply with the ICC’s criteria for full member status – the team fell apart once the Taliban took over with many players going into exile abroad.

Because of this ill-treatment of women in the country, Australia has refused to play bilateral cricket against Afghanistan — meeting them only at ICC-sanctioned tournaments such as World Cups.

Australia postponed a T20 series scheduled earlier this year against Afghanistan due to “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule”.

This came after Australia previously cancelled both a One Day International series last year as well as a once-off Test match, the latter just a few months after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

At the time, Cricket Australia said that it kept “the door ajar for future bilateral series on the provision of improved conditions for women and girls in the country”.

Following orders

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has not taken kindly to Australia’s decision to not play against the country in its current form, describing the decision to postpone tours as “pathetic”.

Cricket Australia is the only country to take this firm stance – following a collaborative decision with the government – given that the ICC has decided to not intervene despite Afghanistan not complying with its criteria for full member status.

South Africa, conversely, was suspended for 21 years, from 1970 to 1991, following an ICC resolution against the South African government and its apartheid regime at the time — which is not dissimilar from the oppression women face in Afghanistan.

Read more: Afghanistan should celebrate their cricket success – but the world must not forget the Taliban’s oppression of women

“We’re following the ICC’s directive,” Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki told Daily Maverick. “We are a member of the ICC and we’re following their directive.

“There is no ban on playing against Afghanistan which is different to apartheid South Africa.

“I know it’s something that the ICC continuously monitors.”

More recently, African neighbour Zimbabwe was suspended from participating in ICC tournaments for a few months in 2019 due to government interference.

Sri Lanka faced a similar ban toward the end of last year, lifted in January, which saw the under-19 Cricket World Cup stripped from the country and moved to South Africa. These examples demonstrate that the ICC is invested in the integrity of the game, but only selectively.

“We play against Afghanistan in ICC events so it reasons that we can continue playing against them bilaterally up until we’re told otherwise by the ICC, so we’ll continue doing that,” Moseki said.

“Our government hasn’t given us any direction to say we shouldn’t play against Afghanistan…

“There is no such directive from our government (as in Australia), there is no such directive from the ICC.

“We played Afghanistan in the West Indies in the semifinal. Up until we get told otherwise by the ICC and/or the government we will continue playing against them.”

Regarding Cricket Australia’s decision to not play against Afghanistan, Moseki said: “It’s not up to us to judge. All the member countries, we have our own regulations and we have our own systems.”

Stepping up

The solution to taking a stand against Afghanistan’s oppressive regime is complex.

Star Afghanistan bowler and captain Rashid Khan plays franchise cricket across the globe, including in the SA20 and Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL).

He threatened to refuse his services in the BBL after Australia’s initial decision to not play bilateral cricket against his nation. He signed with the Adelaide Strikers anyway, but did not play a match in the past season due to injury.

The ICC’s refusal to suspend Afghanistan legitimises the country’s oppressive regime. South Africa choosing to play against the cricket side does little to dispel that. The Afghani male players, however, do not deserve to be punished for the actions of their state. It’s complex and perhaps there is no right answer.

But Cricket South Africa sitting on its hands – especially given South Africa’s past. It is not a good look.

The South African Cricketers’ Association (Saca), acknowledged in a statement CSA’s responsibility to fulfil its commitment to the Future Tours Programme by playing against Afghanistan, but also recognised that “the deteriorating human rights for women under the Taliban rule cannot be ignored in the context of cricket”.

“WCA (World Cricketers’ Association) and Saca do not condone any situation in which women’s players are excluded from competing in our sport,” Andrew Breetzke, Saca CEO and WCA board member was quoted as saying.

“Every athlete has the right to equality of opportunity which is protected by international law and set out in the Universal Declaration of Player Rights.

“That means each player has the right to equality of opportunity in the pursuit of sport, free of discrimination, harassment and violence.

“A player’s right to pursue sport cannot be limited because of his or her gender.

“We urge CSA to utilise the leverage available to it through this series to highlight that these rights for Afghanistan’s women’s players must be protected and respected.”

Whether that means wearing symbolic armbands or making a gesture of some kind, it’s a step further than anything the ICC has done so far. DM

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