The head of the International Cricket Council, Geoff Aldrice, stated that the Afghanistan Cricket Board was having trouble growing women’s cricket in the nation and that things would stay the same unless something changed.
During an event for the next ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday in Dhaka, Aldrice informed the media, “I think at the moment, the Afghanistan Cricket Board who is our member is unable to fill the team.” “That will continue to be the case unless something changes. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has always tried to advance women’s cricket; they are simply unable to do it at this time.
Afghanistan Cricket Board was unable to submit its women’s squad to the forthcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup since Afghanistan is the only full member country that does not currently have a women’s team.
The teams are split into two groups of five, with South Africa, England, Bangladesh, West Indies, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Qualifier 1 in Group A and these same countries, together with Qualifier 2, in Group B.
Cricket Australia postponed their planned Twenty20 International series against Afghanistan in March 2024, citing no progress in the Taliban’s stance on women. Cricket Australia had already cancelled the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover and withdrew from the ODI series last year. The three-game series was supposed to take place in the United Arab Emirates in August 2024.
Aldrice continued, “The ICC is looking to grow women’s cricket by adding more teams to the international competitions. The next ICC Women’s World Cup will feature ten teams.”
“In order to increase the opportunities in a tournament, I am aware that this one in October will have ten teams. There will be talks about potentially expanding the 12-team format of the women’s T20 World Cup in the future. The two teams from Ireland and Bangladesh that are competing for the first time are gaining more experience against stronger opponents and becoming accustomed to playing with some of the top players in the globe because even the ICC Women’s Championship has been extended to a 10-team competition, according to Aldrice.
“And I believe it will require some time, as the ICC establishes a framework for teams to contend.” Women’s T20 internationals between associate members have been played just as frequently as men’s T20 internationals in the past few years of associate member cricket. Thus, the foundation for competition exists. They may occasionally perform well enough to advance past the qualifiers. The best approach to promote teams and get them into the World Cups is, in my opinion, to increase the amount of opportunities they have to compete on the big stage, and I believe that’s what we’re aiming to achieve,” he stated.
