Sydney(National Times): Women could still be allowed to play cricket, the chairman of Afghanistan\u2019s Cricket Board has claimed to an Australian broadcaster in an apparent backflip on the Taliban\u2019s stance.
\nAzizullah Fazli said the governing body would outline how this would happen \u201cvery soon\u201d, adding that all 25 of the women\u2019s team remained in Afghanistan and had chosen not to leave on evacuation flights.
\n\u201cWe will give you our clear position on how we will allow women to play cricket,\u201d he told SBS Radio Pashto late Friday, the broadcaster reported on its English-language website. \u201cVery soon, we will give you good news on how we will proceed.\u201d
\nHis comments appear to contradict the deputy head of the Taliban\u2019s cultural commission Ahmadullah Wasiq, who told the same broadcaster on Wednesday that it was \u201cnot necessary\u201d for women to play sport.
\nThose remarks saw Australia threaten to cancel a historic maiden men\u2019s Test between the two countries, set to take place in Hobart in November.
\nAustralian Test captain Tim Paine turned up the heat on Friday, saying he believed teams could pull out of next month\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup in protest, or boycott playing Afghanistan.
\nIn an overnight statement, the Afghanistan Cricket Board urged Australia not to punish its men\u2019s team over the Taliban\u2019s apparent ban, saying it was \u201cpowerless to change the culture and religious environment of Afghanistan\u201d.
\n\u201cDo not isolate us and avoid penalising us,\u201d it added.
\nCricket Australia said in brief comments Saturday that it remained in regular dialogue with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and that \u201cwe made our position very clear in the statement\u201d.
\nIt was referring to a statement Thursday in which it supported \u201cthe game unequivocally for women at every level\u201d, adding that it would have \u201cno alternative\u201d but to cancel the Hobart Test if the Taliban banned women.
\nUnder International Cricket Council regulations, nations with Test status must also have an active women\u2019s team.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s position as a full member was set to be discussed at the ICC\u2019s next board meeting in November, but Australian media said the governing body had brought it forward to within the next fortnight.
\nDespite recent reports that many of the women\u2019s team were in hiding in Kabul and that members of the Taliban had come looking for them, Fazli insisted they were safe.
\n\u201cThe women cricket coach Diana Barakzai and her players are all safe and living in their home country,\u201d he told SBS.
\n\u201cMany countries have asked them to leave Afghanistan, but they have not left Afghanistan, and at the moment, they are in their places.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sydney(National Times): Women could still be allowed to play cricket, the chairman of Afghanistan\u2019s Cricket Board has claimed to an Australian broadcaster in an apparent backflip on the Taliban\u2019s stance. Azizullah Fazli said the governing body would outline how this would happen \u201cvery soon\u201d, adding that all 25 of the women\u2019s team remained in Afghanistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[346],"class_list":["post-11863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-346","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n