The International Cricket Council has set up a working group to monitor cricketing activities around the Afghanistan Cricket Board, after the recent developments following the Taliban take-over of the country that took place in August.
The group headed by the ICC deputy chairman Imran Khwaja will include Cricket Ireland chief Ross McCollum, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raza and Cricket South Africa head Lawson Naidoo.
“The ICC Board is committed to continuing to support Afghanistan Cricket to develop both men’s and women’s cricket moving forward. We believe the most effective way for this to happen will be to support our Member in its efforts to achieve this through its relationship with the new government,”
ICC boss Greg Barclay stated in a media release.
Since the Taliban took over the governing rule of the country, Afghanistan’s future in cricket has been under doubts, especially women’s cricket. Barclay believes that cricket can influence a positive change in the country that is very passionate about the sport.
Raza, in a press conference on Wednesday, revealed that ICC’s decision to appoint a review panel was partly due to the evidence of factionalism in the ACB. He disclosed that there were multiple Afghanistan candidates that showed up for the ICC meeting in Dubai on Tuesday and ICC had to disallow them from attending the meeting.
The ICC interim chief executive, Geoff Allardice had told during the T20 World Cup that the board is offering all the support to the ACB to ensure cricket is functioning appropriately.
“Our goal is to see men and women playing cricket in Afghanistan. Our view is that the best way to achieve that is to stay closely connected with the cricket board and try to influence through the cricket board.”
There have been some changes at the ACB power structure, with the 33-year old Mirwais Ashraf being appointed as the acting chairman last week. This was the second update in a span of four months as Ashraf replaced Azizullah Fazli, who had taken over from Farhan Yusufzai, who left the country after the Taliban take-over.
