Cricket was first played in Afghanistan in the mid 19th century, with British troops reported has having played in Kabul in 1839. However, unlike many countries, no lasting cricket legacy was left by the British, and it would be more than a hundred years before cricket returned.[1]
In the 1990s, cricket became popular amongst Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was formed there in 1995. They continued to play cricket on their return to their home country.[1] Like all sports, cricket was originally banned by the Taliban, but cricket became an exception in 2000 and the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was elected as an affiliate member of the ICC the following year.[5]
The national team was invited to play in the second tier of Pakistani domestic cricket the same year,[1] and the tour brought international media attention to Afghan cricket when the US-led invasion of the country began whilst the team was in Pakistan. The team lost three and drew two of the five matches on the tour.[5]
They played in two Pakistani tournaments in 2003, winning their first match that year. They began playing in Asian regional tournaments in 2004, finishing sixth in their first ACC Trophy. More success began in 2006 when they were runners-up to Bahrain in the Middle East Cup and beat an MCC side featuring former England captain Mike Gatting by 171 runs in Mumbai. Gatting was dismissed for a duck.[5]
They toured England in the summer of 2006, winning six out of seven matches. Three of their wins came against the second XIs of Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire.[2] They finished third in the ACC Trophy that year, beating Nepal in a play-off match.[5]
They won their first tournament in 2007, sharing the ACC Twenty20 Cup with Oman after the two tied in the final.[5] They began their qualifying campaign for the 2011 World Cup in Jersey in 2008, winning Division Five of the World Cricket League.[4] They finished third in the ACC Trophy Elite tournament the same year,[2] and won a second consecutive WCL tournament, Division Four in Tanzania later in the year.[2]
In January 2009, Afghanistan progressed to the 2009 World Cup Qualifier by winning Division Three of the World Cricket League in Buenos Aires, topping the table on net run rate ahead of Uganda and Papua New Guinea.[3]
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament the Afghan team has so far won 2 out of 3 games. In their first match of the tournament, they beat Denmark by 5 wickets.[6] Following this victory, they beat Bermuda, who had qualified for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, by 60 runs,[7] and lost to Kenya by 107 runs.They also lost the match against the Dutch.[8] Afghanistan lost their final match against the United Arab Emirates by 5 wickets. They finished fourth in Group B but progressed to the Super Eight stage of the competition. In their first game of the Super Eight stage they beat Ireland by 22 runs [1], a team regarded by many as the leading Associate team.
But the afghan dream virtually over after loss to Canada. Afghanistan hopes of clinching a 2011 Cricket World Cup place just eight years after the national team was formed were all but dashed on Monday.
The sporting heroes of the war-torn nation lost by six wickets to Canada in Pretoria and with other leading teams Ireland, Kenya and Netherlands also winning, the Afghans need a miracle to squeeze through.
Afghanistan must hope the Kenyans and Dutch lose their remaining two World Cup Qualifier Super 8 matches on Wednesday and Friday, while they defeat title holders Scotland and Namibia.
Net run rate would then decide which countries fill the four places on offer for the quadrennial world cricket showpiece in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Manager Sayed Aminzai was pleasantly surprised when told by AFP that his team still had a slim chance of reaching the World Cup as he believed they were out of the running.
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