I should know because I was there. Covering the tournament for The i Paper in the Caribbean, watching the late games amongst fans in local watering holes on evenings off was a nice way to unwind while also keeping tabs on what was happening elsewhere in the tournament.
Ashes victory and Champions Trophy disaster - my England predictions for 2025
Read MoreTo deny them the chance of competing at the highest level might seem cruel. Yet as many people have pointed out in recent days, that is an adjective that would be better used to describe the treatment of women under the brutal Taliban theocracy that seized back power in Kabul in August 2021. Barbaric is another.
But world cricket’s governing body continues to send annual funds to the Afghanistan Cricket Board and allow the men’s team to play on the international stage.
Yet calls for England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan in Lahore next month have brought cricket’s often uncomfortable relationship with politics into sharp focus.
Piers is not the first Morgan I would contact when asking for an opinion on cricket but his post on X this week calling for England to “make a stand” by boycotting that game is one of his rare opinions I agree with.
The @englandcricket men’s team must cancel their match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy group stage on Feb 26. The Taliban’s disgusting and ever-worsening oppression of Afghan women, including banning them from all sport, is unconscionable. Time we took a stand.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 2, 2025When asked by The i Paper on Friday whether they might change their stance on Afghanistan that currently sees them refuse to schedule any bilateral series against the country but continue to play them at ICC events, the ECB did not comment.
There is an argument that states sports stars should use their powerful platform to flag up issues of social conscience. Yet to ask England’s players to make a moral stand on this issue would be grossly unfair.
Test cricket's showpiece is a total mess - no wonder England don't care
Read MoreNext are the ECB. They may yet take a stand on this. But don’t hold your breath.
And there might also be a place for the government, led by sports minister Stephanie Peacock, in all this. Back in 2003 when England were weighing up whether to travel to Zimbabwe for their World Cup game against the tournament co-hosts amidst the background of the country’s brutal repression of democracy, the Labour government publicly stated they would prefer the team not to travel.
This is a different issue but the point is the same – it’s unfair to put all this on the players. As Hussain later wrote in his autobiography Playing with Fire: “How could it reach a situation where I, as England captain felt abandoned, not only by the British government but also and mainly by cricket’s world governing body and our own board?”
Expect collective amnesia from the administrators who are in a position to take a moral stand on this issue right now.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( England have become the scapegoats for cricket’s weak leadership )
Also on site :