Sport

ICC expecting findings of study into women’s cricket in Afghanistan

Published

3 years ago

April 8, 2022

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will receive a report back from its working group into the issue of Afghanistan women’s cricket within the next two days.

Women’s cricket in Afghanistan has faced an uncertain future after the Islamic Emirate took over the country in August last year.

An IEA official’s comment that women would be banned from playing cricket led to calls for Afghanistan to be culled from the 2021 T20 Men’s World Cup and sparked debate over whether their Full Membership should be stripped.

Cricket Australia also postponed last November’s historic men’s Test with Afghanistan over the issue.

But Afghanistan has continued playing international cricket and the ICC has preferred to wait until a working group tasked with investigating the situation provided its findings.

ESPNcricinfo reported that the working group, in its only recommendation, has found 33-year-old Afghanistan all-rounder Mirwais Ashraf's appointment as chairman to be in compliance with the ACB and ICC constitutions. If accepted by the board then Ashraf will become an ICC board director.

Ashraf replaced Azizullah Fazli who was in charge for just two months.

"There needs to be stability within ACB," a former ACB official who was interviewed by the working group, told ESPNcricinfo. "The chairman is meant to be in the role for three years. There needs to be clear directions (by the ICC) to the government that the constitution and procedures need to be met.

"I told them (working group) that Afghanistan cricket shouldn't be sabotaged because of the Taliban's takeover of the country."

Development and pathway structures for women's cricket are part of strict criteria for Full Membership. When Afghanistan received it in 2017, an exemption was invoked on the provison that they take active measures to develop women's cricket. Before the IEA’s takeover, the ACB had announced central contracts for a pool of women cricketers though they were still some way off fielding a team.

Former ACB Chairman Azizullah Fazli, however, said in October last year that there was officially no ban on women’s sport, especially women’s cricket.

“They (IEA) have no problem with women taking part in sport. We’ve not been asked to stop women from playing cricket. We’ve had a women’s team for 18 years, although it wasn’t a major team, we’re not on that level yet,” Fazli had said.

"There is no way to know if women's cricket is developing there right now," an official familiar with the situation said. "The ACB is saying that women are still allowed to play. Indication is that the ACB is trying. Every country has an obligation to develop women's cricket."

"Women's cricket was moving in the right direction prior to the situation changing," McCollum told ESPNcricinfo. "The priority is to make sure their players are still available and can play. It's a difficult situation. Afghanistan is complex."

Ross McCollum, a member of the working group, told ESPNcricinfo that women’s cricket had been “moving in the right direction prior to the situation changing.”

"The priority is to make sure their players are still available and can play. It's a difficult situation. Afghanistan is complex,” McCollum said.

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Eighteen Afghan players shortlisted for IPL auction

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024

Ariana News

Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) auction scheduled in Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25.

A total of 29 Afghan cricketers had registered for the auction.

On Friday, the IPL governing body unveiled the shortlist of 574 players, which includes 18 Afghans.

Out of the 574 Players, 366 are Indian and 208 are overseas, including 3 players from associate nations. The auction will include 318 Indian uncapped players and 12 uncapped overseas players.

204 slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.

Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote

Sport

Paul beats Tyson as former heavyweight champ can’t turn back clock

Tyson, who wore a knee brace, never mounted much of a challenge after being wobbled by some left hands in the third round but did enough defensively to avoid taking any serious damage.

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024

Ariana News

Jake Paul beat boxing legend Mike Tyson by unanimous decision to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle in Texas on Friday that failed to live up to its enormous hype.

The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prizefighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson was streamed live on Netflix and played out in front of a sold-out crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Reuters reported.

Those fans were left largely disappointed as Tyson showed his age and was never able to generate any offense against his younger opponent, landing just 18 punches to Paul's 78.

"First and foremost, Mike Tyson - it's an honor to be able to fight him," said Paul.

"It was as tough and hard as I thought it would be."

Tyson, who wore a knee brace, never mounted much of a challenge after being wobbled by some left hands in the third round but did enough defensively to avoid taking any serious damage.

He admitted after the contest to fighting through a leg injury.

"Yeah, but I can't use that as an excuse. If I did, I wouldn't be in here," Tyson said.

"I knew he was a good fighter. He was prepared, I came to fight. I didn't prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I'm not one of those guys that live to please the world. I'm just happy with what I can do."

Tyson, one of the most fearsome heavyweight champions of all time during his heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was in his first professional fight in nearly 20 years. He was non-committal when asked if he would return to the ring again.

"I don't know. It depends on the situation," he said.

Paul (11-1) said he can now fight anyone he wants, possibly even Mexican Canelo Alvarez, after being the main attraction in the mega event that brought out a star-studded crowd and 72,300 fight fans to the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

"This is the biggest event, over 120 million people on Netflix. We crashed the site, The biggest U.S. boxing gate, $20 million, in U.S. history, and everyone is next on the list."

TAYLOR BEATS SERRANO

In the co-main event earlier in the evening, Ireland's Katie Taylor retained her super lightweight title by beating Puerto Rico's Amanda Serrano in a controversial unanimous decision after a violent affair.

Serrano came forward throughout the fight but their heads crashed together hard in the early stages, resulting in a deep cut over Serrano's right eye. The referee later took a point off Taylor for head butts.

In the end all three judges scored it 95-94 for Taylor, who denied accusations from Serrano's corner that she was fighting dirty.

Taylor won the pair's previous meeting at New York's Madison Square Garden in April 2022 and said there would be a third meeting.

Sport

Afghanistan beat Pakistan in U-19 Tri-Nation Series

Published

2 days ago

November 15, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan's under-19 national cricket team defeated Pakistan's under-19 players by 100 runs in the first match of the Tri-Nation Series.

The match was held on Friday in Dubai which hosts this tournament.

Afghanistan's under-19 cricket team will face the United Arab Emirates in the second match of the Tri-Nation Series which is scheduled on November 18.