Afghan pioneers highlight folly of UK immigration law
Tim Wigmore reveals how emerging talent from Associate game will force elite nations to rethink recruitment stance
February 20 was a historic day for cricket. For the first time in IPL history, a player from Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi, was signed. A few minutes later, another was, Rashid Khan, who went for a cool $600,000, even as Imran Tahir, the No.1 ranked ODI and T20I bowler, went unsold. It was a seminal moment for Afghan cricket, marking another step in the nation’s ascent to the cricketing mainstream.
Much of the story of Afghan cricket can be told through the tales of Nabi and Khan.
Nabi was born on New Year’s Day 1985 in a refugee camp in Pakistan. His family had fled Afghanistan as the war between the Soviet Union and the Mujahideen became ever more devastating. It was here that they came into contact with cricket for the first time. Nabi played with Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran and Shapoor Zadran, all later crucial figures in the national side, in Peshawar.
When the Nabis returned to Afghanistan at the start of the Noughties, they took their love for cricket with them. “There were no grounds, nothing in Afghanistan at that time,” Nabi later said.
It did not matter. Afghan cricket grew because of the talent, self-belief and incurable ambition of men like Nabi. He was there in their first official match, a loss to Oman, in 2004. He was there, scoring 116, when Afghanistan thrashed an MCC side including Mike Gatting in 2006.
That innings led to Nabi winning a contract to play for MCC Young Cricketers in 2006. It was during this stint that Nabi made cricket history: playing for MCC against Sri Lanka A, he became the first player in the history of first-class cricket to hit the first ball in both innings of his debut for six, a statistic that embodies the effervescence of Afghanistan’s play.
And it was Nabi who scored the winning runs against Kenya in October 2013 to secure World Cup qualification for the first time. A few months earlier, Nabi’s father had been kidnapped for several months, a reminder of the backdrop against which Afghanistan’s cricketing ascent has come.
Rashid’s story is different. He is part of a new generation of Afghan cricketers, who didn’t learn the game in Pakistan but rather exclusively in Afghanistan. Even aged 18, he has shown himself to be a wondrous talent, combining legspin of unusual pace, marrying accuracy with prodigious turn and a devilish googly, with impish, unorthodox lowerorder batting.
Rashid was outstanding in the WT20 last year, taking 3-11 against Zimbabwe and 2-17 against England. His gifts should also translate seamlessly to the longer formats of the game: in December, he took 12-122 in the match against England Lions, and made 77 runs for once out to boot.
It is no exaggeration to say that he has the capacity to be the first genuinely global star to emanate from Afghanistan.
With their prodigious talents, both Nabi and Rashid will enrich the IPL; there is even the tantalising prospect of them operating in harness, as spin twins for Sunrisers Hyderabad. But the real significance of their signings extends much deeper than the pitch.
In the IPL the two will act as standardbearers, not merely for Afghanistan, but the wider Associate cause. Should they succeed, their performances are likely to lead other teams – not just in India, but in domestic T20 leagues around the world – to scout for Associate talent. In the process, opportunities for top Associate players around the world could open up. This will help to globalise cricket, and give the best Associate players a new reason to stay in the game. Fans the world over will benefit, too, from being able to witness some thrilling talents.
But there is one place where fans cannot expect to see Nabi, Rashid and other Afghans anytime soon: England. Under the absurd work permit rules in county cricket, players must come from Full Member countries to be eligible. As Afghanistan are not a Full Member – at least not yet. That means that, no matter how good their players are – Rashid is already ranked as the fifth-best T20I bowler in the world – they do not qualify.
It is a damning indictment if the insanity of UK immigration laws and a relic of the contempt Full Members like England have shown for growing the sport. No one is saying counties must sign Afghans, merely they should be able to if deemed good enough. Essex, Kent and Lancashire were interested in signing Nabi and Hamid Hassan, who has a brilliant yorker, in 2011, but had to abandon the plans.
Even if England ignores them, the rest of the cricketing world will not. That bodes well for all those in the Associate world. Sports history shows how clubs can rapidly be alerted to talent in undertapped regions, and radically change their recruitment policies as a result. Before Cameroon reached the football World Cup quarter-finals in 1990, there were fewer than 100 African players in European football. A decade later, they were almost 1,000.
Rashid and Nabi did not need any help to secure their lucrative IPL contracts. But Associate nations could do with more assistance to embed their players in T20 leagues around the world, both to show off the talent that already exists and help it to improve.
In the Women’s Big Bash, each team is assigned one Associate player, who does not count as an overseas player, in an enlightened scheme funded by the ICC. Under the scheme, which shows off the best of what the ICC is doing to globalise the sport, Ireland’s Kim Garth played an important role to help the Sydney Sixers win this summer’s WBBL, while her compatriot Isobel Joyce also played.
The Men’s Big Bash should introduce the rule, too, and other leagues around the world also. Ideally, the IPL could be persuaded to permit each team to pick an Associate player without them counting among their overseas players; such a scheme could help others join Nabi and Rashid.
When they get to India, the pair will not merely be making history, and continuing Afghanistan’s intoxicating rise to the cricketing mainstream. They will also be showcases of cricket’s expansion in recent years, and proof the myriad talent that exists beyond the sport’s traditional frontiers.
They are trailblazers for the wider Associate world, which will be united in cheering them on in India.
Before Cameroon reached the football World Cup last eight in 1990 there were 100 African players in Europe, a decade later there were 1,000