ECB urges cricket’s leaders to take action over ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan

  • England face Afghanistan in Champions Trophy
  • ICC called on to ‘intervene and show global leadership’

The England and Wales Cricket Board has called on cricket’s governing body to show leadership by taking coordinated action to stop “the gender apartheid facing the 14 million women in Afghanistan”.

In a letter to the International Cricket Council on Friday, the ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, also urged it “to find a solution that provides hope that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan can be restored”.

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Nervous 9999s: Steve Smith rues milestone miss as he backs teenage tyro to be a hit

  • 35-year-old one run short of 10,000 Test runs ahead of Sri Lanka tour
  • Australia stand-in captain to guide Sam Konstas to play his own way

Steve Smith has conceded he thought “too much” about reaching the 10,000 Test runs milestone against India before falling one run short in the fifth Test. The stand-in captain will head to Sri Lanka needing a single to join Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh in an exclusive Australian cricket club.

Smith, famously fidgety and a poor sleeper during Tests – particularly while he is batting – reckons he has never cared much for statistics and milestones in a 114-Test career in which he’s averaged nearly 56. But, after falling for four in the second innings at the SCG to leave his home crowd, packed with family, friends and the three cricketing greats above him on that list gutted, he couldn’t pretend it didn’t hurt.

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South Africa’s sports minister joins growing calls for boycott of Afghanistan

  • Afghanistan to feature at upcoming Champions Trophy
  • England and South Africa are in group with Afghanistan

South Africa’s sports minister has joined calls for a boycott of Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play them next month.

England and South Africa share the same group with Afghanistan in the competition and are under pressure to boycott the fixtures in response to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021. South Africa are scheduled to open their Champions Trophy against Afghanistan in Karachi on 21 February but McKenzie urged his country’s cricket governing body not to honour the fixture.

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