England’s males’s avid gamers have the “energy” to make their very own stand and refuse to play Afghanistan within the Champions Trophy, in line with Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) met with Antoniazzi on Tuesday after she despatched a cross-party letter to the governing frame, signed by means of just about 200 UK politicians, which known as at the ECB to boycott the fixture.
The ones UK politicians need the group to refuse to play the 50-over fit in Lahore on 26 February and take a stand towards the Taliban regime’s attack on ladies’s rights.
Girls’s participation in game has successfully been outlawed because the Taliban’s go back to energy in 2021, and lots of of Afghanistan’s feminine avid gamers left the rustic for their very own protection.
Within the wake of her assembly with the ECB, the place the governing frame maintained its non-committal place on a boycott, Antoniazzi instructed BBC Recreation that England’s avid gamers can select to make their very own stand at the factor.
“The facility lies within the group. The facility lies within the folks that play the game. The facility lies with them – it is of their palms,” the MP for Gower mentioned.
“How giant is England cricket? It is large. They’ve an enormous status on the planet of game they usually do have a power, and I would like them to grasp that that affect is what they will have to use to make a distinction.”
The Skilled Cricketers’ Affiliation (PCA) declined to remark at the prospect of particular person England avid gamers doubtlessly boycotting the fixture, however instructed BBC Recreation it’s “an especially complicated factor”.
A spokesperson mentioned: “The PCA is appalled on the abhorrent remedy of the girls and women below the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
“The PCA continues to interact with the ECB and the International Cricketers’ Affiliation at the topic.”
Because the topic pertains to particular person participant perspectives the ECB didn’t really feel it was once suitable to remark.
