More than a sport in Afghanistan
Claire Stewart, in the Sydney Morning Herald, presents a looking glass into cricket in Afghanistan and how it serves a greater purpose than sporting pleasure
05-Apr-2014
Claire Stewart, in the Sydney Morning Herald, details her journey exploring what cricket meant in Afghanistan. She learns the passion it brings forth, with the President said to have called the Afghanistan team the new national army. Support for the women's game, though, is less forthcoming under present conditions and wandering to the stadium without company is unsafe for the same reason. Still with Mohammad Nabi's men, beating a Test nation in their first Asia Cup and qualifying for the World Cup in 2015, cricket is seen as more than an a mere sport.
The only external cricket representative not to let security concerns keep him from visiting the ACB in Kabul during the past 12 years is former Pakistani player, and now ACC representative, Iqbal Sikander. He sits in Murad's office discussing the economic viability of different equipment providers while recounting tales of his time in Australia as part of Pakistan's victory in the 1992 World Cup. "Our only objective is that we want cricket bats in the hands of the youngsters instead of guns," says Sikander. "We want them to stay away from drugs and trouble."