Hobart’s Hazara community will help determine whether the city hosts a men’s cricket Test between Australia and Afghanistan.
The first ever Test involving the two nations, originally slated for 2020 but delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to start on November 27.
The match looms as a key Ashes tune-up for Tim Paine’s side but also a significant fixture for the Tasmanian skipper and indeed Cricket Tasmania, which hasn’t hosted a Test since 2016.
The Taliban, who recently completed a swift takeover of Afghanistan, has declared it wants the game to happen.
But the question as to whether it should remains unanswered in the minds of many.
Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein, speaking in a state budget estimates hearing on Monday, highlighted reports about the future of women’s sport in Afghanistan as being “particularly” concerning.
“I have very real concerns as to whether or not the state should hold that match without some very clear commitments being made around it, in terms of the future of women’s sport,” Gutwein said.
“What I intend to do, in terms of that match going ahead, is reach out to the Hazara community later this week and have a chat with the local communities here to get a sense as to their view.
“We’ll be seeking to engage with the Australian Cricket Board (Cricket Australia).
“If our local community felt that it would be sensible and perhaps confidence building to allow that match to go ahead then obviously that’s a different matter.
“But I think we need to get some advice.”
The Taliban violently persecuted Hazaras, Afghanistan’s third largest ethnic group and a religious minority, when governing from 1996 to 2001.
The Taliban has vowed to be more moderate and inclusive since reclaiming power but human rights organisation Amnesty International says there was a massacre of nine Hazara men in July.
CA noted on Monday it is in regular dialogue with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the federal government about the tour.
“Clearly, some of the issues arising are significant global matters which transcend the game of cricket,” a CA spokesperson said.
“Cricket Australia considers itself a leader in driving the evolution and promotion of the women’s game globally.
“Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we continue to support the game unequivocally for women and men at every level of the game.”
The ICC, which has the power to revoke member status, is following the state of Afghanistan’s women’s program closely.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Hamid Shinwari recently insisted the tour of Australia will proceed.
Shinwari also told ESPNcricinfo that the ACB and CA are in talks regarding a Twenty20 tri-series on neutral turf in October, which would serve as match practice for the World Cup.
This summer’s domestic and international schedule remains clouded by COVID-19 and border closures, with further changes on the cards after the women’s Australia-India series was shifted to Queensland.
The Pakistan Question
Guest
Now it has become crystal clear that Pakistan was assisting and sheltering the Taliban and other terrorist organisations, like Bin Laden's Al Quaeda, and ISIS we seriously need to consider what we will do with Pakistan. Surely they must be banned from the international cricket community?
Timmuh
Roar Guru
SBS reporting that a spokesperson for the Taliban has said women will not be allowed to play cricket, or indeed any sport. How quickly will CA or the ICC move? If the ICC moves at all. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/taliban-say-women-won-t-be-allowed-to-play-sport/3d58c3c9-9ffd-4f13-98e7-b1ecfe9ce2df
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Exactly, the Taliban could care less for the Tas Premier, they haven't finished taunting the US President yet! Conversely, the Tas Premier shows no empathy for the innocent victims caught in the undoubted banning of sport, by pre-empting with a ban on them!
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Not the Corrs .... please not.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
I was thinking more to the tune of the song in Robin Hood: Men in Tights ... (We're men in tights ... we're men in tights ... we roam around the forest looking for fights ... We steal from the rich to give to the poor that's right")
Micko
Roar Rookie
What?! You advocate invading North Korea?! :shocked: Leave them alone! :Stop these crazy silly meddling zio wars! :angry:
Jeff
Roar Rookie
The Taliban itself will ban many sports (and a range of other things) in the near future, even if not men's cricket. Really doesn't need a provincial government in another country mirroring the Taliban's own actions by also imposing bans on the Afghan people. Does anybody really think the Taliban will give a rats about a ban on men's cricket, let alone it leading to regime change or major ideological shifts ala the intended outcome of the South Africa approach?
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
And the Corrs to sing it...
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
I'll be posting one this afternoon. Hopefully up tomorrow. Surely you liked my little roar anthem at least?
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Punishing Afghani cricketers for a hostile takeover of their country is abhorrent, especially by a minor state functionary in a foreign country. Is that now how far emergency state powers extend, with nothing to do with a virus?
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Hear, Hear, Jeff!
Ace
Roar Rookie
I turned on the Roar to see if there was another interesting article on cricket. But to read a lot of the comments by all and sundry over the Tasmanian premier's comments is akin to watching kids in a playground bashing each other around. These bitter comments are coming from the people I respected and looked forward to reading their articles. Maybe we can find a good article tomorrow
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
What is a love in?
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Feel free to add verses of your own choice at your own leisure and pleasure. Just be sure to periodically include the refrain.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
What about Rowena Orr?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Why does the Afghanistan cricket team represent the Taliban regime? Does the Australian cricket team represent the Liberal Party? Until (if) the Taliban interfere in the workings of the ACB, then why punish the Afghanistan cricket team and the people of Afghanistan because they’ve had the Taliban forced upon them?
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
We're on the roar, we,re on the roar It's never ever gonna be a bore He came, he conquered, he saw We're on the roar, we're on the roar At work at home or dropping in next door We're on the roar we're on the roar
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Had to shoo a couple of them out of the living area yesterday.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yeah, it’s a good point about the players. No one is suggesting they be banned from IPL or punished personally. But once you represent a country then the symbolism becomes important. At some point, countries are going to draw a line as they did with South Africa over apartheid- where it had an undoubted impact. You wouldn’t draw the line with India and Pakistan, who’ve had a patchy human rights record recently, but you would with Nazi Germany. Has China crossed the line with the Uighurs as you’ve asked? It has for some. On the other hand we didn’t try to boycott the Soviet Union until they invaded Afghanistan. These things will get mixed with geopolitics and domestic politics.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Having a women’s team is only a tiny part of the equation. That might be what the ICC will look at. The big dilemma for Federal Government (their job, not Gutwein’s) is whether you let in a team representing a regime that has been responsible for mass killings in the past of groups like the Hazaras, killings of journalists and all and sundry they don’t like, worse than apartheid treatment of women. All of which makes Bob Mugabe look like Jacinda Ardern. And we, the Brits and the Kiwis blocked Zimbabwe tours in ‘07-08. But does it make sense to give the Taliban a little bit of room to see whether wiser heads rein in the excesses? Maybe, but not sure how the govt will see it. May be a hard sell, depending on what Afghan community, women’s voices, ICC, and like-minded countries have to say.