Heather Knight urges ICC to help ‘forgotten’ Afghanistan women’s team

England captain Heather Knight has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do more for the “forgotten” Afghanistan women’s team.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said on Friday that England men’s forthcoming match against Afghanistan should not be cancelled amid calls for a boycott over the Taliban’s treatment of women.

A cross-party group of more than 160 MPs and peers have signed a letter urging the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to sit out next month’s fixture at the Champions Trophy in Lahore.

The ECB has also called on the ICC to act, with chief executive Richard Gould urging the game’s global governing body to take action after what he called “gender apartheid”.

Knight agrees that change and support needed to come from “the top of the game,” telling BBC Sport: “It needs to come from the ICC and it needs to be a really clear message.

“I know that cricket in Afghanistan has given a huge amount of hope to people in the country and people that have fled the country, so it’s not as simple as having a boycott and then things will change because I’m not entirely sure that that’s going to be the case.

“But I think that by trying to promote the women’s team and the fact that there is a women’s Afghan team playing here in Australia is a really cool thing, so let’s celebrate that as much as we can.”

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the first women’s Ashes fixture against Australia, Knight said she was hoping to meet some members of the Afghanistan side who are playing an exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI in Melbourne this month.

“Some of them are coming to our game at Junction [Oval] next week, so I’m hoping to meet them after the game,” Knight said.

“I think it’s a really good thing that people are talking about it and it’s in the news again because honestly I think it’s been forgotten a lot, which is a really bad thing.

“Obviously it’s a really complex situation with what’s going on but I think the biggest positive can be those group of women being talked about.

“They’re playing a game at Junction, I think the first day of our Test match, so I’d love to see that broadcast far and wide. Let’s get that voice out there that those women are playing cricket, which is a really cool thing.

“I think that can be a really positive message from a pretty heart-breaking situation which is going on in their home country.”