England captain Buttler must be spared Afghanistan boycott determination – INA NEWS

England captain Jos Buttler should not be “thrown underneath the bus” amid rising political strain to boycott subsequent month’s Champions Trophy cricket match towards Afghanistan, in line with former English worldwide Steve Harmison.

A gaggle of greater than 160 British politicians have referred to as 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 group to proceed to compete in international competitions, with England resulting from face them within the one-day worldwide Champions Trophy in Lahore on February 26.

ECB chief govt Richard Gould has resisted requires a boycott, saying he would “actively advocate” for collective motion by the ICC fairly 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 might be turned on Buttler.

Harmison was a member of the England squad urged to boycott a sport towards co-hosts Zimbabwe on the 2003 ODI World Cup in protest on the authorities of Robert Mugabe.

England finally refused to play the sport following demise threats however solely after captain Nasser Hussain led his facet by way of a number of days of anguished talks in Cape City.

There at the moment are reviews 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 underneath the bus, like Nasser bought thrown underneath,” former England quick bowler Harmison, 46, instructed World Participant’s Sports activities Brokers podcast.

“Nasser, he wasn’t simply thrown underneath the bus, he was reversed, backed over. We bought our lives threatened. Sportsmen and girls shouldn’t be concerned on the political facet.

“Don’t put Jos on this place, he actually doesn’t want that and the England cricket group 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 resulting from 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 in the course of the Seventies, calling for a boycott.

“We’re of the view {that a} extra unified and collective method from all ICC members might be extra impactful,” mentioned Cricket South Africa President Rihan Richards.