Ireland’s Afghanistan cricket series, five one-day internationals staged in Northern Ireland during August 2026, has drawn anger from English cricket authorities and protests over the Taliban’s ban on women’s cricket.
Cricket Ireland agreed to host the fixtures at Bready Cricket Club in County Derry and at Stormont in Belfast, irritating the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), as reported by The Guardian.
England has refused to play Afghanistan in bilateral cricket outside International Cricket Council (ICC) global events.
Why the Ireland Afghanistan cricket series drew objections
England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have all declined bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan, whose women’s team has not played since the Taliban banned women’s cricket in 2021.
Ireland, Zimbabwe, the West Indies, Pakistan and Bangladesh have continued to schedule matches.
The Taliban’s restrictions on women have been described by critics as gender apartheid. Cricket Ireland has not disputed the substance of that criticism, and Sarah Keane, the chief executive of Cricket Ireland, set out the position the board reached in agreeing to host.
Keane, on the decision to stage the matches:
“The discomfort we feel around that decision and our abhorrence around the treatment of women by the regime”
What Cricket Ireland said about the Afghanistan series
Keane was appointed to the ICC’s Afghanistan Task Force ahead of the series.
The board has also pushed back an open invitation to Afghanistan’s women cricketers, several of whom fled the country and now train in exile, to 2027 or 2028.
Cricket Ireland, in a statement after meetings between Keane, Chair Brian MacNeice and the Afghan players’ representatives:
“The general view of the [Afghan] women’s team is that they do not want to prevent their men’s team from playing cricket but rather leverage the attention to bring a spotlight on the issues of women’s rights in Afghanistan and their own plight”
Political opposition in Northern Ireland
The series has met organised opposition, with demonstrators, including feminists who wore burkas outside one of the venues, objecting to the treatment of women in Afghanistan.
A former Northern Ireland first minister has backed calls for a boycott of Afghan cricket.
Amnesty International, on how the fixtures could be used:
“The Taliban will look to harness this series for propaganda purposes”
Jon Burrows, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, has also opposed the hosting, drawing a comparison with boycott campaigns aimed at Israeli sport and questioning why the same pressure has not been applied to Afghanistan.
Burrows, on the campaigners he says have stayed quiet:
“The silence from some who are quick to demand boycotts of Israeli sporting teams and goods is conspicuous.”
What happens next in the Afghanistan cricket row
Ireland’s cost may be counted in fixtures it does not get. England has chosen Bangladesh for a warm-up Test in 2027 in place of the one-off match against Ireland it played in 2019 and 2023.
The five matches will be played across Bready and Stormont during August, and Cricket Ireland has committed to a reciprocal visit, with the Irish side due in Afghanistan in March 2027 for one Test match, three one-day internationals and three T20 internationals.
The split over which nations will play Afghanistan remains unresolved.
