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Ireland\u2019s decision to stage a full one\u2011day international series for their men\u2019s team against Afghanistan this summer could <\/strong>cost them lucrative future fixtures against England.<\/p>\n The England and Wales Cricket<\/a> Board is understood to be unhappy about the series, which starts on Wednesday, \u00adtaking place as England refuse to play Afghanistan outside \u00adInternational Cricket \u00adCouncil global events because of what the ECB chair, \u00adRichard Thompson, has described as the \u201cgender apartheid\u201d of the Taliban regime.<\/p>\n The ECB\u2019s policy is backed by the UK government, but Cricket \u00adIreland has taken a different view and has developed close relations with the Afghanistan Cricket Board, \u00adoffering it five ODIs this month, all of which will take place in Northern Ireland. In a reciprocal arrangement Ireland will play Afghanistan in the UAE next March for one Test, three ODIs and three T20 fixtures.<\/p>\n England played a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord\u2019s as prepara\u00adtion for both the 2019 and 2023 home series, but the ECB has opted for a warmup Test against Bangladesh instead next year.<\/p>\n England\u2019s men played \u00adAfghanistan in a Champions Trophy group game in Lahore last year after a specially convened ECB board meeting approved the fixture, which was criticised strongly by a cross\u2011party group of 160 MPs, who had urged them to withdraw in a joint letter.<\/p>\n The ECB will not schedule any bilateral cricket against \u00adAfghanistan, however, and this summer organised a tour of England for the Afghan Refugee Women\u2019s team, as well as \u00adinviting them to the T20 World Cup final at Lord\u2019s. The Afghanistan women \u00adplayers fled the country with the majority relocating to Australia after the Taliban retook control in 2021 and enforced a ban on female sport.<\/p>\n While Afghanistan are the only ICC full member not to operate a \u00adwomen\u2019s cricket programme the world \u00adgoverning body has not banned them. Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand also refuse to play Afghanistan in \u00adbilateral series, however, with \u00adIreland \u00adjoining West Indies, \u00adZimbabwe and the four\u00a0Asian ICC full members in granting them fixtures.<\/p>\n The ECB\u2019s relationship with Cricket Ireland has been delicate for some time, as England have declined an invitation to join a proposed new Euro Nations Cup tournament also involving Scotland, the Netherlands and Italy next year because of their congested calendar.<\/p>\n
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