A lot is going on in the field of sports especially cricket. With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the Women Big Bash League (WBBL) currently going on and many more tournaments lined up or under discussion, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is having a lot on board for them. The Women’s World Cup, the Commonwealth Games are some of the many tournaments lined up for women next year and those under discussion includes the United States where cricket is gradually becoming popular, getting the chance to organize a major event in the cycle starting 2024 chiefly because of the ambition of having cricket in the Los Angeles Olympics of 2028.
As per a report by TOI, the chief executive of ICC, Geoff Allardice commented on this saying, “Taking an ICC event or a World Cup of any description to a developing cricket country has a huge impact whether it’s on facilities or awareness of the game particularly when the local team is involved. It’s a great opportunity to develop the game.”
However, above all the major issue of concern for them as of now is cricket in Afghanistan. We know that the Taliban takeover of the country has raised uncertainties over multiple issues especially those involving women. As per the ICC contract, a country should have both women and men teams playing the sport for being considered an ICC member nation. Last month we did hear reports citing that women can play sports, but they will have to adhere to the Islamic laws which came as a sign of relief especially for the men’s team from the nation whose participation in the ongoing world cup was doubtful until the last moment. However, they did participate under their own flag and performed really well gaining appreciation from many but failed to make it to the Semi-Finals after a loss in their last match of the group stage. Though the reports were there no further communication has been done yet to the ICC with regards to women’s cricket.
In the same report, Allardice said, “Our goal is to see men and women playing cricket in Afghanistan. We’ve supported them and the team has performed at this event. You’ve seen their players in a number of events now.”
“In terms of how our board will consider the situation in Afghanistan at its meeting next week, they will get a report on how things are traveling. They have said to us that women’s cricket is continuing. They certainly haven’t given us an indication that it has stopped. Time will tell, in terms of how that plays out. Yes, we have been in regular communication with them from the time things changed in their country.”
Let’s hope sports in Afghanistan soon gets back its lost spirit and we get to see both the women’s and the men’s team in action representing the nation with pride as we look towards a lot from the field of cricket in the coming months.
Loves all things female cricket