Former England bowler Steve Harmison says any resolution to boycott enjoying Afghanistan should not land with the captain.
England captain Jos Buttler should not be “thrown below the bus” amid rising political stress to boycott subsequent month’s Champions Trophy cricket match in opposition to Afghanistan, in response to former English worldwide Steve Harmison.
A bunch of greater than 160 British politicians have called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to refuse to play Afghanistan in protest on the ladies’s sports activities coverage of the Taliban.
Since returning to energy in 2021 the Taliban have banned feminine participation – a transfer that places the Afghanistan Cricket Board at odds with Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) guidelines.
The ICC, nevertheless, has allowed the Afghanistan males’s workforce to proceed to compete in world competitions, with England attributable to face them within the one-day worldwide Champions Trophy in Lahore on February 26.
ECB chief government Richard Gould has resisted requires a boycott, saying he would “actively advocate” for collective motion by the ICC somewhat than have England forfeit the sport – a transfer that might doubtless result in a factors deduction.
A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in the meantime, has urged the ICC to take the lead on the problem however former England quick bowler Harmison fears the highlight will probably be turned on Buttler.
Harmison was a member of the England squad urged to boycott a sport in opposition to co-hosts Zimbabwe on the 2003 ODI World Cup in protest on the authorities of Robert Mugabe.
England ultimately refused to play the sport following loss of life threats however solely after captain Nasser Hussain led his aspect by way of a number of days of anguished talks in Cape City.
There are actually studies the ECB is worried concerning the attainable safety implications arising from a response to a boycott by Taliban supporters.
“The one factor I’ll say is simply please don’t throw Jos Buttler below the bus, like Nasser obtained thrown below,” former England quick bowler Harmison, 46, instructed World Participant’s Sports activities Brokers podcast.
“Nasser, he wasn’t simply thrown below the bus, he was reversed, backed over. We obtained our lives threatened. Sportsmen and ladies shouldn’t be concerned on the political aspect.
“Don’t put Jos on this place, he actually doesn’t want that and the England cricket workforce doesn’t want that. If the ICC wish to have a go along with Afghanistan, that’s their struggle – it’s not the England captain’s struggle.”
South Africa, who’re additionally attributable to play Afghanistan on the Champions Trophy, have backed the ECB’s stance.
That is regardless of veteran anti-apartheid campaigner and British politician Peter Hain, who performed a key position in prompting his native South Africa’s sporting isolation through the Seventies, calling for a boycott.
“We’re of the view {that a} extra unified and collective method from all ICC members will probably be extra impactful,” mentioned Cricket South Africa President Rihan Richards.
