Cricket Ireland will stage five men’s one-day internationals against Afghanistan in Belfast from 5-14 August, despite what its board admits is “moral discomfort” over the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls.
The decision was confirmed on Wednesday evening during a 90-minute board meeting called solely to discuss the tour. Other national boards, notably Australia and England, have either cancelled or avoided bilateral fixtures with Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Ireland has taken a different path.
“We know the choice isn’t simple,” new chief executive Sarah Keane said on Friday as CI unveiled its 2026 home schedule. “Cricket Ireland has made a decision to play Afghanistan in Belfast this year. I’m not going to fob you off by saying that there’s financial reasons and there’s legal reasons. There aren’t. This has been a decision by Cricket Ireland in what it believes is the best interest of the organisation as a whole, and the decision was made by the board this week.”
Keane, who joined from Swim Ireland, stressed that CI had simultaneously offered to host the exiled Afghanistan women’s team, now scattered across several countries. “I want to acknowledge up front the moral discomfort that I think we all sit with around this decision and are clear abhorrence of how the regime treats women in particular, but we also see it very much as an opportunity to reference the Afghan women’s team, the displaced team,” she said.
That invitation is open-ended, with no firm dates yet. “We didn’t just invite the Afghan men to come here. We’ve also invited the Afghan women’s team to come here, and we’re in discussions around how that might happen. Scheduling would be a problem for this year, but it’s really important that they don’t fall off the agenda because if you decide not to play and you decide not to talk about it, then they’re not on the agenda,” Keane continued. “We need the plight of the Afghan women’s team to be very much on the agenda. They need to be supported and a lot of work has been done by the ICC and others to put a fund together to try and support them.”
In reaching its verdict the CI board considered developments in wider sport, including the IOC’s recent softening towards Russian and Belarusian athletes. As Keane put it, “The general global principle across all international sports at this point is that athletes and players be treated differently from their government.”
Fixture list takes shape
Friday’s announcement also set out a busy, if slightly unbalanced, summer for Ireland’s men. They host New Zealand for a one-off Test in May – only the third men’s Test ever played on Irish soil – and welcome India for two T20 internationals. A tri-series featuring West Indies and Pakistan follows, before Afghanistan’s visit rounds off the home season.
On the women’s side, West Indies arrive for an ODI series. Ed Joyce’s team then heads to England for three more 50-over matches and, crucially, competes at the T20 World Cup later in the year.
The shape of the calendar has not pleased everyone. Test captain Andy Balbirnie wrote on Instagram: “Won’t lie, very disappointed to only have 8 home games this international summer.” His frustration reflects a long-standing challenge for Ireland: attracting high-profile opponents while keeping costs under control. A planned visit from Bangladesh fell through for precisely those logistical and financial reasons, and Afghanistan’s original multi-format tour was trimmed to ODIs.
Analysis – weighing principle against engagement
CI’s stance will divide opinion. Some argue that refusing to play Afghanistan keeps pressure on the Taliban and shows solidarity with Afghan women. Others, including CI, believe engagement keeps the spotlight on the issue and provides leverage to assist the exiled women cricketers. Financially, five ODIs are unlikely to transform CI’s bottom line, so the decision appears rooted more in diplomacy and cricketing opportunity than in revenue.
Cricketing context matters too. Ireland need top-level fixtures to climb the ODI rankings and secure pathway points towards future World Cups. Afghanistan, ranked higher in white-ball formats and boasting world-class spinners, offer exactly that. From a purely sporting perspective the series promises competitive cricket on pitches that traditionally assist slow bowlers – useful preparation ahead of the 2027 World Cup cycle.
Yet principle will remain centre stage. CI’s invitation to the women’s side – if it can be turned into concrete fixtures – may prove the key test of whether sport can support, rather than sideline, those denied the right to play at home.
For now, the five-match ODI series is pencilled in for Stormont. Expect spirited debate to run alongside the cricket, and, with luck, progress on giving the Afghan women a platform of their own.
