Knight wants ICC to help 'forgotten' Afghanistan

England skipper Heather Knight has called for the International Cricket Council to bash much for the Afghanistan women's team, whom she feels person been "forgotten".

Female information successful athletics successful the state has efficaciously been outlawed since the Taliban's instrumentality to powerfulness successful 2021.

More than 20 members of their women's cricket squad fled to information successful Australia and antecedently asked the ICC to let them to play arsenic a exile team.

The contented has gained further attraction successful caller weeks arsenic UK politicians person written to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) calling for England's men to garbage to play against Afghanistan successful the Champions Trophy lucifer successful Lahore, Pakistan, connected 26 February.

Knight said the concern is "complex" but she hopes to conscionable immoderate members of the Afghanistan broadside during the women's Ashes bid successful Australia, arsenic they are playing successful an accumulation lucifer against a Cricket Without Borders XI connected 30 January successful Melbourne.

"I deliberation it's truly bully that it's being talked about. Obviously, the concern successful Afghanistan is heart-breaking," Knight told BBC Sport earlier the opening crippled of the Ashes connected Saturday (23:30 GMT).

"It's a analyzable contented but I deliberation arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin publicise the information that the women's squad are playing retired here, we should springiness those girls a dependable due to the fact that it's a singular communicative that they're really here. They managed to get retired of an highly dire situation.

"I deliberation those girls person been forgotten a lot. That is my honorable opinion, which is simply a truly bittersweet thing. There hasn't been a immense magnitude of enactment erstwhile it comes to Afghan women's cricket team, truthful I'd emotion to spot them person arsenic overmuch media arsenic imaginable for that match."

The ECB has besides called connected the ICC to act, arsenic main enforcement Richard Gould wrote to the planetary governing assemblage to instrumentality enactment aft what helium called "gender apartheid".

He besides called for Afghanistan's backing to beryllium withheld until women's cricket is reinstated and enactment beryllium fixed to Afghan women's players.

Knight agreed that alteration and enactment needed to travel from "the apical of the game".

"It needs to travel from the ICC and it needs to beryllium a truly wide message," Knight added.

"I cognize that cricket successful Afghanistan has fixed a immense magnitude of anticipation to radical successful the state and radical that person fled the country, truthful it's not arsenic elemental arsenic having a boycott and past things volition alteration due to the fact that I'm not wholly definite that that's going to beryllium the case.

"But I deliberation that by trying to beforehand the women's squad and the information that determination is simply a women's Afghan squad playing present successful Australia is simply a truly chill thing, truthful let's observe that arsenic overmuch arsenic we can."

The ECB's existent argumentation states that they volition not docket bilateral bid against Afghanistan, portion Australia person withdrawn from playing respective men's bid against their side, but they played each different astatine the 2023 50-over World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Bilateral matches are organised by idiosyncratic cricket boards, but tournaments specified arsenic the Champions Trophy and some World Cups are tally by the ICC, and, fixed Afghanistan are being allowed to enactment by the governing body, England are acceptable to look them arsenic scheduled.

An ICC moving group, acceptable up aft the Taliban takeover successful 2021, has met with representatives of the Afghanistan authorities and is keen to usage its presumption and the athletics of cricket to power alteration successful the country.

"The ICC remains intimately engaged with the concern successful Afghanistan and continues to collaborate with our members," it said successful a statement.

The governing assemblage added it was their volition to "support the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) successful fostering cricket improvement and ensuring playing opportunities for some men and women successful Afghanistan".

Its stance is that the ACB is not successful power of authorities argumentation and truthful players should not beryllium punished for it.

In his missive to the ICC, Gould called for the ICC's moving radical to beryllium reformed, fixed it is wholly made up of men.