No cricket happens without context real or contrived. World Cups are the best example of the latter. The winners are not as they are erroneously called world champions. They are not even necessarily the best team in a particular tournament. Sometimes they are the best team at avoiding the best teams. That didn't happen at the men's T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean in June when Afghanistan beat New Zealand Australia and Bangladesh to seal a semifinal berth - where they came unstuck against South Africa on an awful Tarouba pitch.
So there is ready-made context in the Afghans and the South Africans meeting again in three ODIs in Sharjah from Wednesday to Sunday. The teams have clashed five times in the past and South Africa have won five times. But each of those instances was subject to the artificiality of a World Cup. This will be their inaugural bilateral series. That means this is the first time they have chosen to play against each other rather than been lumped together by a tournament format. It's an important distinction that lays bare the all too real and overarching context of this rubber.
"South Africa's decision to continue playing against the Afghanistan national cricket team is not just a sporting choice - it is a tacit endorsement of the Taliban's repressive regime" Lawyers for Human Rights a South African non-governmental organization who have been fighting oppression since 1979 - the deepest darkest days of apartheid - said in a statement on Tuesday. "Since the Taliban's takeover in 2021 they have systematically stripped away the rights of Afghans.
Particularly women and girls restricting access to education employment justice freedom of speech and movement. These actions constitute a blatant assault on human dignity criminalizing women's existence outside their homes. Just this August while South Africa was celebrating Women's Month the Taliban imposed even harsher restrictions mandating women to cover their faces and forbidding them from speaking publicly.
"These oppressive measures directly contradict South Africa's commitments to gender equality anti-discrimination and the eradication of gender-based violence both domestically and under international law. By playing against Afghanistan South Africa send a message that undermines its own values and human rights obligations effectively turning a blind eye to the gender apartheid enforced by the Taliban."
The South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) have voiced their concerns over the fate of female players in Afghanistan where women and girls are banned from taking part in sport and most other activities. Temba Bavuma South Africa's captain in the series has supported SACA's stance. But CSA have countered by saying they are following the ICC guidance on Afghanistan; that cricket in the country shouldn't be punished for the actions of an evil regime.
Indeed the cricketers have sought to distance themselves from the Taliban by not flying the flag that the violently repressive group have decreed is now the national ensign. Instead Afghanistan's former flag flutters at their matches. Cricket it is argued is all that brings Afghans joy in this grim time. Maybe that's why reports from Afghanistan say the vicious killjoys of the Taliban want to shut down the game completely. These claims are as yet unconfirmed murmurs on social media. But the fact that they are circulating means the fear of that happening exists.
In January last year Rashid Khan said he was considering boycotting the BBL in reaction to Australia's decision to postpone bilateral matches against Afghanistan because of the dire situation in the country. Rashid declared himself "disappointed". It seems he got over it: he made himself available as planned - maybe helped by the money on offer .
Only to be undone by injury and forced to withdraw. Many would wonder whether if Afghanistan's most prominent player can't see past his own self-interest on the issue and if we assume his teammates feel similarly it is time for the ICC to consider taking action against the team. There is no dodging the context of this series and there shouldn't be. It is about exponentially more important matters than mere cricket.
