Cricket Corner: Afghanistan impress, the ICC packs a surprise

In a nod to the longest form of the game - Test cricket - the article is broken into three sections to mirror the main intervals in a day’s play. Lunch - the main course, the biggest stories. Tea - something a little lighter, dessert if you will. And Stumps (the end of play) - something to ponder over a few drinks at the bar.

Lunch: We need to talk about Afghanistan

The World Cup is creeping towards what might be a slightly underwhelming end to the group stage with the top teams pulling away from the pack. India, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia look on course for the semi-final spots barring some major upsets. Which is not impossible but looking less and less likely by the day.

Perhaps more interesting than the success of those top four sides has been the shocking underperformance of World Cup holders England, the stuttering form of Pakistan and the relative no-show of Bangladesh. Further, we have had some fun surprises with the Netherlands and Afghanistan both collecting major scalps already. The latter has gone on a great run in the last four matches, beating England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - all former champions of the format.

It’s brilliant to see Afghanistan impressing and more specifically not simply relying on superstar spinner Rashid Khan, who had previously carried them somewhat. They possess a formidable spin arsenal in Khan, Mujeed Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad and their batting unit has risen to the task at hand. It’s no longer appropriate to consider them perennial underdogs but time to celebrate them as an established force in white-ball cricket.

There is plenty more to talk about, too. Afghanistan gained International Cricket Council (ICC) Full Member status in 2017 and part of the conditions for that are the existence and development of pathways for women’s cricket. Since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021, however, women’s cricket (and all other women's sport) has been completely stifled.

Almost no one has opposed Afghanistan’s continued participation in men’s cricket except for Cricket Australia, who decided to pull their side out of a bilateral series penned in for March this year in the UAE. Australia sacrificed the competition points on offer amid concerns over women’s rights in the country and upon consultation with their own government on the matter.

That move prompted a backlash from the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Khan specifically, who threatened to pull out of further participation in Australia’s Big Bash League, through which he has become a household name down under. He later backtracked on those threats but questions remain.

What are the minimum requirements for women’s cricket worth if they are not upheld? Equally, what’s the use in potentially punishing Afghanistan cricket for the views of the oppressive regime within which they exist? And, more immediately, does this add some spice to the upcoming game between them and Australia next Tuesday? Australia was firmly against a bilateral series with Afghanistan so why play this match?

One thing is clear - on the park, Afghanistan have gone from strength to strength since being granted Full Member status and should be an example for offering the coveted seal of cricketing approval to more of the 96 Associate Members. The Netherlands, anyone?

Tea: End of an era in Australia?

Switching our focus away from the World Cup temporarily, there is something interesting going on in Australia’s four-day domestic competition, the Sheffield Shield. New South Wales (NSW), the most successful state in the tournament’s history, have not won a match in 15 attempts after their latest defeat to Victoria. It's their worst-ever run of results.

For those that don’t know, the Sheffield Shield is composed of just six teams, one for each of Australia’s states, and it has been running since 1892. In its long history, NSW have won a whopping 47 titles with Victoria second on 32 and then a huge gap to the third-most. In short, the Blues (as they are known) are the top dogs of Australian domestic red-ball cricket and their ongoing drought has caused a mild panic among fans who are used to winning ways.

Why is this interesting? Well, principally because NSW is the most populous state and the largest contributor to the Australian talent pool. When NSW have been strong, Australia have been strong, too. Case in point - of Australia’s most recent Test squad, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith and David Warner are all from NSW as is the current Queensland captain Usman Khawaja, who relocated.

That’s over half the XI right there. What’s more, that group is all over 30 and, in the case of a couple of them, quite close to the end of their international careers. With a sizable changing of the guard fast approaching in Australian cricket, it begs the question - where is the next flock of top talent coming from? Well, not NSW based on current performances, that’s for sure. It is alarming that the biggest source of national team players is in such disarray but is it cause for concern?

Well, the other states won’t be too concerned, I can't imagine. What’s more, there is an element of myth to the strength of NSW. While they have dominated the Sheffield Shield historically, since its expansion to six states in 1977, NSW have won exactly the same number of titles as Western Australia (11), just one more than Victoria (10) and only two more than Queensland (9). Evidently, it has been passed around quite evenly. End the world? Not quite. End of an era? Quite possibly.

Stumps: The race for seventh... or eighth

One of the more confusing revelations in the world of cricket in the last week has been the (re)announcement by the ICC that the top seven teams from the World Cup group phase will qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Pakistan qualify automatically as hosts so, in the event that they finish in the top seven, the eighth spot qualifies.

First of all, what even is the Champions Trophy again? In short, it's a mini-world cup - a tournament of the best 50-over sides that is held typically between World Cups with fewer teams. The reason why a lot of people have forgotten about it is that the last one was played in 2017, with the next to be played in 2025. A long time between drinks.

Before the Twenty20 revolution, it made sense to have this extra international tournament of white-ball cricket but now it sort of feels like that weird uncle who wasn’t actually invited to Christmas but is still there. 'Oh, hi Champions Trophy. How are things?'

Well, things aren’t looking too good actually. Mainly because no one cares about the Champions Trophy anymore but, more pertinently, because it is set to be held in Pakistan - a country that has one critical floor when it comes to hosting international cricket events: India won’t go there. And India, or rather the BCCI (India's cricket board), is the big boss in this sport. No one is really convinced that it will happen, at least not in Pakistan, but the ICC is playing along for now.

Possibly to inject a little bit of jeopardy into what is starting to feel like a rather flat finish to the group stage, they have kindly 'reminded' everyone, midway through the World Cup, that seventh (or eighth) now matters. Even though a number of national bodies have claimed that they were not aware of this (as reported by ESPN Cricinfo), the ICC maintains this plan has been in place since 2021. It's interesting that the rest of us are only finding out now, isn’t it? But don’t worry, it might not even happen. Bring on the race for seventh... or eighth!