Afghanistan Cricket / Taliban

[slcricfan1]

AFG under 19s just beat Bangladesh in a youth Test in BD. Not an easy feat. Would be a shame to strip them of status merely over politics.

They should never have got status in the first place if we are going by the official ICC criteria and rulebook.

Let'a hope they lose it soon.

Really?

What does it say in the criteria? And why do you hope Afg lose test status? Seems unhealthy for cricket overall while disregarding politics and Zimbabwe`s own chances

[Kriterion_BD]

AFG losing Test status will drastically curtail the amount of Tests Zimbabwe will play.

AUS/ENG/IND - won't play ZIM at all under any circumstance
NZ/SA - will play ZIM maybe 2 Tests every 5 or 10 years...now that there is WTC + COVID might not play any
PAK/SL/WI - will play 1-2 Tests every 3 or 4 years
BD - will play 1 Test per year on average

Ireland can't afford to play Tests and ZIM can't afford to host them either. That only leaves Afghanistan who are both able and willing to play 4 Tests per year against Zimbabwe.

[slcricfan1]

AFG losing Test status will drastically curtail the amount of Tests Zimbabwe will play.

AUS/ENG/IND - won't play ZIM at all under any circumstance
NZ/SA - will play ZIM maybe 2 Tests every 5 or 10 years...now that there is WTC + COVID might not play any
PAK/SL/WI - will play 1-2 Tests every 3 or 4 years
BD - will play 1 Test per year on average

Ireland can't afford to play Tests and ZIM can't afford to host them either. That only leaves Afghanistan who are both able and willing to play 4 Tests per year against Zimbabwe.

How is Afghanistan able to but not the Irish?

[CrimsonAvenger]

How is Afghanistan able to but not the Irish?

Yes, I have wondered about this too. Both AFG and IRL get pretty much the same allocation from the ICC and AFG seems more keen to play tests than IRL.

[secretzimbo]

AFG under 19s just beat Bangladesh in a youth Test in BD. Not an easy feat. Would be a shame to strip them of status merely over politics.

They should never have got status in the first place if we are going by the official ICC criteria and rulebook.

Let'a hope they lose it soon.

Really?

What does it say in the criteria? And why do you hope Afg lose test status? Seems unhealthy for cricket overall while disregarding politics and Zimbabwe`s own chances

It says in the criteria that full members must enter both male and female teams in all ICC events (e.g. World Cup qualifyings etc). Afghanistan have not entered a women’s team into a single event since they become full members over four years ago and despite a few snazzy Press releases, very clearly never had any intention of doing so even before the Taliban turned up. There is however an exemption for associates to avoid women’s teams - so they could feasibly go back to being a successful associate member.

And now we can add political interference as well on top of that. Other members have been suspended for less.

I get the points above about Zimbabwe and that they are the only team that wants to play us. But to support Afghanistan’s current regime and longstanding ignorance of the membership criteria just because I’m Zimbabwean would be pretty selfish. Rules are rules. We can talk that the rules are ridiculous or that they should be changed etc. But whilst they are in place, there’s no way Afghanistan should remain as full members currently.

[secretzimbo]

Also ZC got their asses kicked into gear earlier this year about women’s cricket and told in no uncertain terms by the ICC that they had to allocate a greater portion of funding from the budget towards the women’s teams. My friend Adam Chifo is doing a good job with the women at the moment but up until about six months he didn’t have a cent to work with.

If ZC is being forced (I say ‘forced’ - but it is of course a good thing) to fund women’s cricket then why aren’t Afghanistan?

[Kriterion_BD]

It says in the criteria that full members must enter both male and female teams in all ICC events (e.g. World Cup qualifyings etc). Afghanistan have not entered a women’s team into a single event since they become full members over four years ago and despite a few snazzy Press releases, very clearly never had any intention of doing so even before the Taliban turned up. There is however an exemption for associates to avoid women’s teams - so they could feasibly go back to being a successful associate member.

And now we can add political interference as well on top of that. Other members have been suspended for less.

I get the points above about Zimbabwe and that they are the only team that wants to play us. But to support Afghanistan’s current regime and longstanding ignorance of the membership criteria just because I’m Zimbabwean would be pretty selfish. Rules are rules. We can talk that the rules are ridiculous or that they should be changed etc. But whilst they are in place, there’s no way Afghanistan should remain as full members currently.

Rules were written to be broken, especially in international forums. There is precedent, the ACB could argue that the ICC has already granted them Test status as an exception, so why renege on that precedent? The ICC also wouldn't want to lose their one true Cinderalla team from rags to riches. The ACB can also argue that if they weren't barred from the World Cup, why would they be stripped of Test status. They also play relatively few Tests, so could argue what difference does it really make? A final argument would be, who benefits from the move, and if the answer is no one, than whats the point of so-called "rules"?

My gut feel is the ICC will allow the white teams to cancel their matches against Afghanistan - itself breaking legal "rules" and legal agreements which will result in financial losses to the ACB - but won't change their status.

[secretzimbo]

Rules were written to be broken, especially in international forums.

Every time any other country breaks those rules, they get suspended. Zimbabwe. Nepal. The USA. Countless smaller associate nations. A handful are actually suspended every single year. Look into it.

There is precedent, the ACB could argue that the ICC has already granted them Test status as an exception, so why renege on that precedent?

I have actually said this exact thing several times on this thread already, I think once or twice actually in reply to you. It's a complete joke that they were given Test status in the first place. Against the ICC's very own criteria. The ICC have very recently forced Zimbabwe to allocate significantly more of its funding to women's development, as I've said. The fact that anyone else has an 'exemption' is a joke and has been a joke for the past four years.

All the outraged Tim Paine's in the world banging on about the Taliban not letting women play should have been equally angered four years ago.

The ICC also wouldn't want to lose their one true Cinderalla team from rags to riches.

Hardly a cinderella team now with Terry Taliban and Tommy Terrorist running the show.

The ACB can also argue that if they weren't barred from the World Cup, why would they be stripped of Test status.

Because Associate members can play in World Cups. Indeed, several are. And there are clear exemptions that permit associate teams to avoid fielding womens teams. There is no such exemption for Full Members.

Although thats just the women's issue. The political interference issue is different. Political interference should, by the ICC's rules and longstanding implementation of those rules, result in total instant suspension.

They also play relatively few Tests, so could argue what difference does it really make?

I guess we can do the same on this basis, then? Why don't we just let fucking Mnangagwa become director of cricket and let him shoot all our female players? Nahhh, no one will mind because we don't play many tests.


Lol wtf is this logic.

[secretzimbo]

Also, you are forgetting an absolutely crucial point. If you read into the ICC statutes and minutes and the way it operates, you'll be amazed. The ICC isn't some almighty independent body. It's about as independent as a hog on ice.

In almost every aspect it is totally controlled by the full members. How many full members will want to be seen to supporting the Taliban's major outlet for soft power and influence?

You can bet your bottom Zollar that India won't be wanting to support Pakistan's terrorist breeding ground.....

[Kriterion_BD]

We will have a concrete idea of what happens when the ICC meets in November. Safe to say the Australia Test will be canceled.