Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley defends Afghanistan policy ahead of Afghanistan XI women’s team match

Cricket Australia insists it is doing everything in its power to support Afghanistan’s female cricketers but won’t budge on a decision to continue playing against the country’s men’s team at ICC tournaments.

Australia refuses to take part in bilateral series against Afghanistan on moral grounds, last year citing “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule”.

But Australia played against Afghanistan at last year’s T20 World Cup, sparking accusations of hypocrisy, and the two teams are set to meet at next month’s Champions Trophy.

They are grouped there with England and South Africa, who both continue to resist pressure to boycott their fixtures against Afghanistan.

CA chief executive Nick Hockley on Monday reaffirmed the governing body’s position.

“We’re duty bound under the terms of the arrangements for ICC events to play all our scheduled fixtures, so it goes back to what can we do that’s in our control,” Hockley said.

“We’ve played Afghanistan in other ICC events, so we’ve been clear and consistent from the very outset.

“You have to draw a line somewhere and I think we’ve made our stance pretty clear.”

Hockley’s comments came as he launched a historic match for an Afghanistan XI women’s team in Melbourne, featuring exiled players living in Australia.

The Afghanistan XI will take on a Cricket Without Borders XI at the Junction Oval on Thursday.

It will be their first match as a team since many of the players fled Afghanistan for Australia three years ago.

CA has facilitated the fixture and is hopeful it can be a “beacon of hope” for Afghan women and girls.

“You need moments like this to prompt real change and hopefully it’s all up from here,” Hockley said.

“The first piece is awareness but I think it’s going to be such an exciting day on Thursday and my hope is that promotes lots of conversations.

“(Hopefully) this becomes an annual thing and then actually becomes more often - ultimately that this team are able to compete on the international stage.”

Afghanistan XI player Firoza Amiri, who plays club cricket for Dandenong in Victorian Premier Cricket, last week called for her country’s men’s team to be the “voice of girls” and stand up for their rights.

Team captain Nahida Sapan believes Thursday’s fixture can have a significant impact for Afghan women and called on the ICC to give the team more support.

“It’s really special for us because this is a very historic moment for all Afghan women,” Sapan said.

“We have big hope for this match because this match can open doors for Afghan women - for education, sport and our future.

“We don’t want this to be our first and last match. We want more matches and we want more support.”