SYDNEY: Australia’s one-off men’s Test match against Afghanistan, scheduled to start in Hobart on 27 November, is set to be cancelled after the Taliban banned women from playing sport, including cricket.
Cricket Australia had come under increasing pressure to call off what would be the first Test match between the two nations. It was meant to serve as a vital red-ball tune-up for Tim Paine’s team ahead of this summer’s Ashes series.
The sport’s national governing body on Wednesday issued a statement indicating it was willing to pull the plug on the game given the Taliban’s stance on women and sport.
“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,” the statement read.
