This archive report was first published on 9 September 2021.
Cricket Australia has announced that it will cancel a historic maiden Test match against Afghanistan if the Taliban does not backtrack on its reported ban on women playing sports.
The governing body made the announcement on September 9, 2021, after the deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, reportedly stated that women would not be allowed to play cricket or any other sport under the new regime.
Wasiq told Australian broadcaster SBS that women would not be allowed to play cricket because it would expose them, and that Islam does not permit women to be seen in certain ways.
Cricket Australia has stated that driving the growth of women's cricket globally is 'incredibly important' to the organization, and that it supports the game unequivocally for women at every level.
However, if recent media reports that women's cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart.
