Australia to play Afghanistan in UAE

[Afgun]

Afghanistan will take on Australia next month © Getty Images
Australia will play Afghanistan for the first time next month, as a warm-up for the series against Pakistan in the UAE. Although the details of the Pakistan series are still being finalised, Cricket Australia has confirmed that a one-off match with Afghanistan, most likely a one-day international, will be held ahead of the Pakistan series in an effort to assist with Afghanistan's cricketing development.
If the game is an ODI it will be Afghanistan's second against an ICC full member, after they lost to Pakistan in Sharjah in February. Although Afghanistan did not qualify for last year's World Cup they have one-day international status valid until 2013 and have had wins over Kenya, Canada, Netherlands and Scotland, having won more than half of the games they have played.
"Everyone in world cricket have been really impressed with how cricket has flourished in Afghanistan, despite its pressing national problems," James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said. "As an ICC member, CA strongly supports world cricket's ambition for cricket to continue to develop as a global sport and that, combined with the strong relationships between our two countries, encouraged us to look at how we might recognise and encourage Afghanistan by playing them on the field."
Afghanistan will be part of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September, where they have found themselves in a very difficult group with India and England. They also played in the 2010 World T20 and will be competing in the Under-19 World Cup next August, to be held in Australia.
The date and venue for the Afghanistan-Australia match will not be confirmed until Pakistan and Australia finalise the structure of their series. The PCB has proposed a series of three ODIs and three T20s, despite the ICC granting permission for a six-match T20 series due to the extreme heat during the daytime in the UAE in August and September.

[Admin Khan]

KABUL (PAN): Australia will play a one-day international against Afghanistan in the Middle East next month as a warm-up for the series against Pakistan.
Although a venue is yet to be confirmed, the event -- the first meeting between the sides -- precedes the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, in which Australia, Pakistan and Afghanistan are all competing in September-October.
"Everyone in world cricket have been really impressed with how cricket has flourished in Afghanistan, despite its pressing national problems," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said.
"As an ICC member, CA strongly supports world cricket's ambition for cricket to continue to develop as a global sport and that, combined with the strong relationships between our two countries, encouraged us to look at how we might recognise and encourage Afghanistan by playing them on the field".
"We also look forward to hosting Afghanistan in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Australia in August."
Afghanistan's national team was formed in 2001 - the same year the ongoing war began - although cricket was first played in the country since the middle of the 19th century.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Dr. Hamid Shinwarai had contacted Australian cricket officials through ICC to ask the Aussies for a play with Afghans players, ACB spokesman Nasratullah Wafa said.
He also said it was still unclear it will be a one-dayer or a Twenty20 encounter between the sides.
Meanwhile, ICC President Alan Isaac welcomed the news that Australia will play its first-ever game against ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 qualifier Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.
Speaking in Dublin where he will watch Afghanistan play Ireland, Isaac said: "This fixture supports ICC's initiative to provide more opportunities for our top ranking Associate/Affiliate Member (AM) teams to play against better opposition. It aligns perfectly with the ICC Strategic Plan to Build a bigger, better global game by developing more competitive teams at the highest level.
"We have already seen Pakistan play Afghanistan in Sharjah this year in a high quality match and we must commend Australia for creating this opportunity. It has always been willing to contribute to development by playing against AM nations as it recently showed when it played against Ireland.
myn/ma

[Nazar]

Best luck, Afghanistan. Hope Afghanistan becomes a full member soon and then we wouldn't have to support Pakistani team.