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Following new Taliban restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, Cricket Australia (CA) announced on Thursday that Australia’s men’s team has withdrawn from their ODI series against Afghanistan in March.
Last month, the Taliban-run government in Afghanistan outlawed women attending universities. Since March, girls are prohibited from attending high school. Additionally, they have been barred from gyms and parks.
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Three One-Day Internationals between Australia and Afghanistan were set to take place in the United Arab Emirates, but CA decided against it after “extensive consultation” with all relevant parties, including the Australian government.
“This decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms,” CA said in a statement.
“CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country. We thank the Australian government for its support on this matter.”
Australia and Afghanistan were supposed to play a test match in November 2021, but the match was cancelled after the Taliban took control of the country in August of that year.
The only ICC full member country still without a women’s team is Afghanistan. However, they have continued to participate in ICC events since the Taliban took control, and they played Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup last year.
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