England vs Afghanistan: Captain Jos Buttler says boycott is no way
Demands for a boycott increased with cross-party letters being sent in early January. Labor MP Tonia Antoniazzi said England players should use their “power” to “make a difference”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government was talking to international counterparts on the issue but Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy later said the games should go ahead, saying a boycott was “counterproductive”.
“They deprive sports fans of their favorite opportunity and they can hugely penalize athletes and sportspeople who work very, very hard to reach the top of their sport,” he told the BBC earlier this month. Are.”
Full membership is based on the presence of women’s cricket teams and route structures in accordance with International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.
However, the Afghanistan men’s team has been allowed to participate in ICC tournaments without any restrictions.
The ICC is keen to use its position and the game of cricket to affect change in the country and believes it should not punish players for government policy.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould wrote to the ICC demanding more action from the global governing body against what he called “gender apartheid”.
He stopped short of calling for an immediate boycott, but asked the ICC to impose an “immediate condition” on Afghanistan’s full member status for women’s cricket to be granted by a certain date.
