Slated to begin on November 27 in Tasmania, the fate of the Test has hung in the balance as a result of the chaos unfolding in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in mid-August.
Responding to questions posed by SBS Pashto on Tuesday, the deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission Ahmadullah Wasiq indicated the insurgent group supported its staging, saying all previously organised matches “will continue without interruption, and [the Afghan team] can play with other international teams”.
"In the future, we want good relations with all countries,” he said.
“When good relations are established, Afghan players can go [to Australia] and they can come here.”
The match was originally planned to take place in December 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic, and as fears mounted that the new date would also be scrapped, the fixture has remained on the .
A Cricket Australia spokesperson told SBS Pashto: “Cricket Australia’s planning for the historic first Test match between Australia and Afghanistan in Hobart is well underway."
“There is goodwill between CA and the Afghanistan Cricket Board to make the match happen, which immediately follows the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE in which the Afghanistan team is due to play," the spokesperson added.
“CA will continue to work with the Australian and Tasmanian governments ahead of the Afghanistan team’s arrival planned for later this year.”
Cricket is one of Afghanistan's most popular sports and players from the national team compete in competitions across the world, including the Big Bash League in Australia.
Despite Taliban assurances given to male cricketers in the country, the fate of the women's program remains unclear.
Wasiq was among a group of Taliban representatives at a player draft event for the Afghan Shpageeza Twenty20 competition on August 26.
The main purpose for attending was to “reassure” the cricket community that they can continue playing “without any fear and threats,” he said.
Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan is currently playing in The Hundred competition in the UK. Source: Press Association
“Our ultimate goal was to reassure all our players, the cricket board officials and colleagues that they can continue their games without any fear or intimidation, and call on their colleagues to come and play with confidence, and to also get prepared for domestic and upcoming international games,” Wasiq said.
“[The players and cricket board officials] were very happy and assured that they would do their best.”
In a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Wasiq said sporting matches will be permitted but any involvement should be conducted in a manner that is not “un-Islamic” and against Afghan cultural values.
“Islam attaches great importance on health, and it is important that everyone should be healthy.”
While playing sport, he said it was important that those taking part “dress according to [Islamic law]”, but it was still “unknown” which flag and national anthem the Afghan side would compete under.
"We have no problem with the [current] flag because the system is important, the Islamic system is very important to us.
“It is unknown [about the flag and national anthem] at this time. Once we have the cabinet [announced] then everything will be clear after that.”
Mohammad Farid Hotak, a spokesman from the Afghanistan Cricket Board, said the country’s men’s team was preparing to take part in the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October, followed by the Test against Australia.
He said Taliban leaders met with players and officials from the Board and “expressed hope that the Afghan national cricket team, which has always had achievements in Afghanistan, would continue these successes and achievements”.
This game [against Australia] is very important because it is with a strong country and the Afghan team will prepare for this game and will travel to these games with good preparation.
“Afghan and Australian cricket boards have agreed to play a Test match between Afghanistan and Australia. There has also been talk of tri-series games which would be in different formats.”
'Everyone supported this great game'
Former Afghan Cricket Board CEO Rahmatullah Qureishi believes his country has "very strong potential" in the sport.
"If there is a strong administration, management and leadership to manage that potential, I think there will be a lot of surprise in the world [over] how strong Afghanistan can be in cricket.”
He said during his time as the Board's head, he did not witness any "obstacles" placed in the way of the sport's growth.
“I had not seen, even a single incident or threat, challenge or bottleneck to cricket in Afghanistan. Everyone supported this great game and this great opportunity for Afghanistan.
That was one of the important things that I witnessed, and I have experienced that despite a lot of insecurity happening in the country.
Such was the support for cricket that he was able to take the national team by bus to parts of the country without fear of being attacked by the Taliban.
“It means there were no problems and then they [Afghan cricket players] travelled by road to Khost [province] and they played a cricket match in Khost as well."
