ICC appoints Working Group to review status of Afghanistan cricket; women's First Class, List A classification to align with men's game

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed a Working Group to review the status of cricket in Afghanistan.The governing body has also announced that women’s First Class and List A cricket will now have same classification as the men’s competitions. These decisions were made on the board meeting concluded on Tuesday (November 16).



With the new regime in place in Afghanistan and their cricket board, there have been doubts about the future of the game in the country, especially regarding the women’s game. The formed group – Imran Khwaja (Chair), Ross McCollum, Lawson Naidoo and Ramiz Raja - will look into all the recent developments and will file a report over the coming months.



“The ICC Board is committed to continuing to support Afghanistan Cricket to develop both men’s and women’s cricket moving forward. We believe the most effective way for this to happen will be to support our Member in its efforts to achieve this through its relationship with the new government,” Greg Barclay, ICC Chairperson, said.



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“Cricket is fortunate to be in the position to influence positive change in Afghanistan with the national men’s team a source of great pride and unity in a country with a young population that has experienced more upheaval and change than most. We should protect that status and continue to try to influence change through the ACB but will continue to closely monitor the situation and take any decisions accordingly.”



The board meeting also made the decision regarding First Class, List A status and classification of women’s game to align with that of the men’s game with retrospective effect. Also they have renamed ICC Women’s Committee to ICC Women’s Cricket Committee and they will be responsible for all the decisions regarding women’s cricket. Johnny Gave, Cricket West Indies CEO, has been appointed as the CEC and the committee will report to him.