SA reaffirms support for women’s cricket ahead of Afghanistan series

The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has issued a statement supporting the promotion of women’s participation in cricket as the South African men’s team prepares to play three ODIs against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Afghanistan is the only ICC full member without a women’s team. Under the Taliban regime, significant restrictions have been placed on women in the country.

This will be the first bilateral series between the two countries, and only the third time South Africa will play 50-over cricket against Afghanistan after facing the country in the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. These matches are not part of the 2023-2027 Future Tours Program (FTP) and have been added to the calendar as the CSA seeks more competition opportunities for its teams. SACA welcomed the additions, saying in a statement that they “respect the CSA’s position in this regard as cricket’s national governing body”.

However, on behalf of the players, SACA wanted to raise their concerns about the “deterioration of women’s human rights under the Taliban regime” and reiterate their support for the promotion of women’s cricket everywhere.

“The World Cricketers’ Association and SACA will not tolerate a situation where female players are excluded from competition in our sport,” SACA chief executive and WCA board member Andrew Breetzke said. “Every athlete has the right to equal opportunities, which is protected by international law and defined in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Player. This means that every player has the right to equal opportunities to practice sports without discrimination, harassment, and the right of a Player to practice sports cannot be restricted because of his gender. We urge CSA to use the leverage available in this series to emphasize that these rights of Afghan women players must be protected and respected.

The CSA is not expected to comment on the statement, but as a member of the ICC, it has been involved in discussions about the situation in Afghanistan. Its outgoing chairman, Lawson Naidoo, was on the ICC’s Afghanistan task force. Sources have told ESPNcricinfo that the ICC is continuing to discuss possible solutions to the absence of a women’s team in Afghanistan, including ongoing discussions around a refugee group based in Australia. The ICC hesitates to ban the men’s team (as it did with South Africa in 1970 in the fight against apartheid). Due to the status of women in the Taliban, the ACB cannot recognize a women’s team. There are fears from various quarters that forcing the issue of a women’s team on the Taliban government would endanger human lives.

The International Criminal Court still includes Afghanistan as a full member on its international calendar, although some countries have refused to play against them bilaterally. Australia, in consultation with its government, has postponed two series against Afghanistan in as many years. They will go on to play against Afghanistan in ICC tournaments. South Africa have previously faced Afghanistan only in major events, most recently in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, which South Africa won.

On Monday, South Africa whiteball coach Rob Walter was asked if there was any possibility of not playing against Afghanistan because of the current administration. He passed the onus to Cricket South Africa without offering a personal opinion. “To be honest, those decisions are not up to me. Ultimately, the CSA executives decide whether we play or not, so that’s the extent of it,” he said.

South Africa face Afghanistan in three ODIs in Sharjah starting next Wednesday, before taking on Ireland in two T20Is and three ODIs in Abu Dhabi.

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