Greg Barclay succeeded the interim chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Imran Khawaja, on November 24, 2020, and held the position for four more years until the former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jay Shah, replaced him and took the charge from December 01.
One of the prominent issues of the tenure of Greg Barclay was the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) not being allowed to field the women’s team by the country’s Taliban government. Fielding the women’s team and their program is central to the full member, and despite calls being taken to suspend the membership, the former chairman stated that the ICC took the right decision in not taking away the membership status of the country.
“It is not the Afghanistan board’s fault. They used to have women’s cricket. I think our approach has been right. It would be easy to kick Afghanistan out, but their board hasn’t done anything wrong.” Greg Barclay addressed this during a conversation with the Telegraph.
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“They’re just working under a decree and a series of laws that says this is what you have to do. I don’t think it would make a lot of difference to the ruling party there to kick them out.” The former ICC chairman highlighted.
Cricket Australia has stopped playing all the bilateral series in any format with the Afghanistan side. The CEO of the England Cricket Board (ECB), Richard Gould, has pointed out that they would be adopting the same stance, even though they don’t have any planned series against the respective side until the ACB changed their view on the women playing the game.
Greg Barclay shares his view on Australia hampering bilateral relationship with Afghanistan
However, both Australia and England keep on facing Afghanistan in global tournaments as they did during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United States of America and the West Indies.
Greg Barclay has recommended that if both sides want to come on the political stance, then they shouldn’t be engaged even in the World Cups.
“If you want to make a political statement, don’t play them in a World Cup. Sure, it might cost you a semi-final place, but principles are principles. It’s not about having half a principle.” Greg Barclay expressed.
There is precedent in the World Cups when, in the past, during the 1996 ODI event, Australia and West Indies conceded their points to Sri Lanka, while in 2003, England did the same to Zimbabwe and New Zealand to Kenya.
The ICC had temporarily revoked the full membership status of Zimbabwe in 2019. The chairman back then, Shashank Manohar, had cited the political interference in the entire aspect.
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Greg Barclay has felt that upgradation of the sport in Afghanistan, as he noted how the game, from being played in the refugee camps 25 years ago, has channeled them into the World Cup semifinal, where they reached having beaten the mighty Australian side, who was supposed to be one of the contenders for the trophy.
“Maybe, I’m a little naive, but I think cricket is such a force for good there [in Afghanistan], and it brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. It is better to leave it there and hope that it can foster a bit of a change.” He remarked to the Telegraph.
“It’s a real feel-good story (of how) a sport that was played in the refugee camps 25 years ago, and now they have played in a World Cup semi-final. Do you want to turn the tap off?” Greg Barclay concluded.
