Cricket Australia Postpones Series against Afghanistan Citing Human Rights Concerns

Australia will not be playing their T20 series against Afghanistan after Cricket Australia decided to call off the series due to deteriorating human rights situation for women in Afghanistan.

This is the third time Australia has pulled out of playing against Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the government in Afghanistan. Australia cancelled a Test match in Hobart in 2021, pulled out of an ODI series scheduled for March 2023, and has now cancelled a T20 series scheduled to be played in the United Arab Emirates in August later this year.

After consultations with the Australian government, Cricket Australia decided to pull the plug on the three T20 matches to be played in the UAE in August this year.

Human rights in Afghanistan took a turn for the worse when the Taliban took over the country, and the women’s cricket team was disbanded, with several members fleeing the country after the Taliban takeover. The strict restrictions on Afghanistan women also include banning them from attending universities.

In a statement, Cricket Australia said the cancellation of the tour was due to the government’s advice. "The government's advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan,” the statement read.

Cricket Australia hoped that it would be able to initiate a dialogue with their Afghanistan counterpart as well as the International Cricket Council to decide the future course of action leading to the resumption of bilateral matches in the future.

Australia and Afghanistan have played at ICC events, with the most recent match happening in the 2023 ODI World Cup in Mumbai last November. Glenn Maxwell scored a double-century as Australia beat Afghanistan after being pushed with their backs to a wall.