There was backlash when it was announced that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was ready to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to its players who want to become part of the newly formed Afghanistan Premier League (APL). The players' auction for the first season of the league is expected to be held later this month.
Among the high-profile names, England's Ollie Pope, who captained the national cricket team in the past, registered himself in the draft for the T20 league. Cricinfo has reported that Ollie Pope has removed himself from the draft. The move was believed to be taken after a conversation with ECB's managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key.
England have a strict stance against the Taliban government's rule for women in Afghanistan. In protest against the Afghan government's treatment of women, the England cricket team does not take part in any bilateral series with the nation.
As there are clear differences between the views of these two nations, when it was learnt that ECB had no problem in issuing NOCs to their cricketers for the APL, sparked a widespread debate.
Ollie Pope withdraws his name from the APL players' draft
Amid the debate, Cricinfo reported that Ollie Pope has withdrawn himself from the APL draft. There are at least two other cricketers who also followed Pope's path. According to the media report, Will Smeed and David Willey have also pulled out.
Rob Key is likely to play a massive part in changing the cricketers' ethics. ECB's managing director of men's cricket, in a recent discussion, mentioned that it was the moral judgement of the individual players whether to keep themselves in the draft or it was better to skip the tournament.
"Legally, it's hard to stop players from going over and playing in these competitions. It becomes a moral judgement, and players have to be prepared to take the right moral stance. Personally - and it's easy for me to say - I wouldn't go and play in it, but it's down, really, for the player to make that decision," Key said on the BBC's Test Match Special podcast.
Soon after these comments, Ollie Pope pulled himself out of the draft.
ECB's managing director of men's cricket makes his position clear against Afghanistan
When Key was asked about his personal opinion on Afghanistan and their freshly shaped T20 league, he said that he was not supporting the way the Taliban government has been treating the women in Afghanistan. Therefore, he would not show any interest in APL as well.
"I don't agree with the way that women have been treated out in Afghanistan, and the way that things happen in that country is not something that I agree with, so it's not something that I would go and do," Rob Key added.
There are some different opinions as well in the England cricket circle. Like Dawid Malan, who is still a registered English player in the APL draft, said that he takes guidance only from the ICC and the cricket boards.
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