Fears over the safety of England players while in Pakistan are underpinning English cricket’s refusal to boycott next month’s Champions Trophy match against Taliban-governed Afghanistan.

England's men's players have the "power" to make their own stand and refuse to play Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy, says Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.

The ECB is against forfeiting the game – if England do not play, Afghanistan get full points. Given how small the cricketing world is, the ICC can ill afford to hurt the game in Afghanistan. And then there is the all-important question of what India thinks.

A group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month, saying the country's cricket board (ECB) needed to take a stand against the Taliban's crackdown on women.

Among the stranger details of Jonathan Trott’s role coaching Afghanistan is that he has yet to set foot in the place.

South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie said he supported calls for a boycott of Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play them next month.

A group of more than 160 British politicians have called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott next month's Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan as a stand against the Taliban regime's assault on women's rights.

England will face Afghanistan in their second group game of the 2025 Champions Trophy, but more than 160 politicians have called for a boycott over the Taliban's outlawing of female sport

Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Seven MPs and peers from Northern Ireland back boycott due to the Taliban's oppression of women.