Cricket: Afghan Success

A week that began with an underdog success story, the New Orleans Saints, ends with one too, as the Afghan cricket team has qualified for the World Twenty20 championship which takes place in the Carribbean this April.

Afghanistan's cricket team is a rare feel-good story for that country in recent years, and is the subject of a documentary due to be shown on British television screens this year. The team was formed in 2001, having spread into Afghanistan through the Afghan refugees who took up residence in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion that began in 1979.

Fans celebrate their side's World Cricket League Division Three title

The side has quickly risen through the ranks of the minor nations of international cricket, and although it failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, ODI status was secured, and a place at the Twenty20 championship will give Afghanistan's cricketers a first taste of the big international stage. The resulting boost in attention should lead to more funding and greater support, ensuring that the team's upward trajectory continues.

Amongst all the political struggles in international cricket and the squabbling over money, it is nice to be reminded that sport has the power to unite and bring hope in some small way. This month's cinema release of 'Invictus' should teach us that much. Afghanistan's cricketers may be a long way from being able to host major nations at home, but are on the verge of giving the rest of the world something else to associate with their country than war.



Many Afghans learned the game in Pakistani refugee camps

There is an obsession at cricket's highest levels with breaking into big markets such as the USA or China and getting Olympic recognition, yet the sport has always expanded along cultural lines, and Afghanistan has the potential to be a future powerhouse of the game. To do this, it will of course need the security situation to stabilise but it will also need support from the ICC and the international community, and it is surely a more credible target for cricketing expansion than any other nation. Given the rise of cricket in a short space of time, the country's population, and its cultural ties to Pakistan, there is a real opportunity for the game's authorities to not only expand the game, but to make a difference to a country and offer its people something to be proud of. That is surely worth diverting some effort from the latest round of squabbling over the Champions' League.