England’s cricket team plays Afghanistan today, and let’s not mince words – it’s an absolute disgrace.

It’s an embarrassment to the sport, a stain on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and a clear example of cricket’s governing bodies burying their heads in the sand when it comes to real-world issues .

Let’s start with the obvious: Afghanistan is currently ruled by the Taliban , a regime that has systematically erased women’s rights and turned the country into a global pariah. Yet here we are, sending England cricketers onto the field as if this were just another routine fixture. It is not. It’s a tacit endorsement of a regime that doesn’t even allow women to play sport – any sport.

Think about that for a second. The Afghanistan Cricket Board is essentially run under Taliban rule, an organisation that actively excludes half the population from participating in any meaningful way. And yet, the ICC and ECB, the governing bodies of cricket that constantly parade their supposed commitment to equality, appear happy to let this slide.

Punishment for the crime of being female in Afghanistan is relentless: no access to education, no access to meaningful health and maternity services, no talking, no singing, condemned to life in a darkened room . Half the population have systematically disappeared from Afghan society. They are voiceless and invisible.

So, what about the Afghanistan women’s team? Yes, believe it or not, despite having just said that women are not permitted to play sports in Afghanistan, there is indeed an Afghan women’s cricket team . There has to be, according to the ICC’s rules, which state that every nation that has a men’s team must also have a women’s team.

And where are these brave sportswomen? Well, while their male counterparts are allowed to play at international events, the Afghan women’s team has been forced to live in exile in Australia . Presumably, they are in constant fear for their lives and unable to play the sport they love on the same terms as the men from their home nation.

So how, and why, is the ICC even allowing Afghan men to participate in an international tournament when it appears to be in direct contravention of the governing body’s rule that states every nation should be running a women’s team?

The ECB has resisted pressure to boycott the match, saying it believes unilateral action is not the way forward. This view has been backed by the British government despite pressure from politicians and human rights groups.

This isn’t just about principle, although that alone should be enough to call off this match. It is about consistency. South Africa was banned from international cricket for decades due to apartheid. Why, then, is a country that enforces gender apartheid allowed to compete without consequence?

The hypocrisy is staggering. And what does it say about England, a country that preaches inclusivity and social justice but is willing to compete against representatives of a country where women aren’t even allowed to set foot on the pitch?

If England’s governing bodies had any backbone, they would have refused to let the match go ahead. If the ICC had any principles, Afghanistan would have been sidelined until the basic rights of all its citizens were respected. Instead, we are witnessing the game’s institutions bend over backwards to accommodate a completely unacceptable situation. It’s cowardly and shameful, and it makes a mockery of every moral stance the cricketing world claims to uphold.

This match should never have been scheduled, and by playing it, the ECB and the ICC are complicit in normalising the unacceptable. For the sake of cricket’s integrity and, more importantly, of all those who are voiceless under Afghanistan’s current regime – this charade needs to stop.