Cricket Scotland Joins Australia and England in Afghanistan Boycott

Cricket Scotland has confirmed it will not schedule any fixtures against Afghanistan outside of ICC events, citing the Taliban government’s treatment of women and girls. The decision places Scotland alongside Cricket Australia and the ECB, which have already adopted similar stances.

Scotland have not faced Afghanistan in a full international since the 2021 T20 World Cup, though the sides met in warm-up matches before the last two T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026. Under the new policy, those fixtures too would only take place when required by the ICC at its events.

The board’s review of its engagement with the Afghanistan Cricket Board was launched this summer, prompted by two developments. The first was a request to use training facilities in Scotland before Afghanistan’s tour of Ireland, which was turned down because of its last-minute nature and the unavailability of suitable venues. The second was an ACB approach regarding the potential availability of Scottish players for the planned Afghanistan Premier League.

Munsey’s NOC and a Careful Distinction

George Munsey, the opening batter and a regular on the franchise circuit, was the only Scottish player signed in last week’s APL draft. Cricket Scotland confirmed that, pending the league receiving ICC sanction, it will issue him a No-Objection Certificate.

The board was careful to separate the individual from the institution. “Cricket Scotland will comply with its obligations as set out in its contracts with its players,” a statement said. “If an NOC is issued, participation by the player/s must not be interpreted as an endorsement by Cricket Scotland of the current Afghan regime or its policies.”

Contracted players across both the men’s and women’s setups were informed of the new policy on Monday.

The Conditions for a Change

Cricket Scotland stated that it would only play Afghanistan when required by the ICC at its events, including warm-up matches, and would not “proactively schedule” any cricket against the country “unless there is a material change in the circumstances surrounding Afghanistan women’s cricket and wider human rights considerations”.

Afghanistan were granted Full Member status by the ICC in 2017 despite failing to meet the requirement to fund a women’s national team and development structures. The situation for women and girls has worsened significantly since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, a state of affairs experts have described as “gender apartheid”.

An Afghanistan Refugee Women’s XI, primarily based in Australia, toured England this summer to coincide with the women’s T20 World Cup. The ICC put a roadmap in place earlier this year for the team to potentially compete in its events by 2030.

Scotland’s position now aligns with two of the sport’s most influential boards. The policy stops short of a total severance, retaining the ICC-mandated fixtures and permitting individual player participation. But the message is unambiguous: until the circumstances surrounding Afghan women’s cricket change, Scotland will not seek out matches against Afghanistan of its own accord.

                                               

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