Rise of Afghanistan as a talented team is ‘a wonderful story'

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) will be watching closely the Pakistan-Afghanistan One Day International to be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.

Tim Anderson, the ICC's Global Cricket Development manager, who has been following the progress of Afghanistan as a cricketing nation, said: "We are delighted with Afghanistan. It is a wonderful story for us to tell how you can overcome challenges and work through the system. They are still an affiliate member of the ICC, however that membership category hasn't held them back.

"They are still able to get funding and are also able to get good competition and have been a massive success story."

Anderson is delighted that a full member nation such as Pakistan are willing to take on Afghanistan.

"I think the PCB has done a great thing by allowing Afghanistan to play a game against them. We are expecting a huge crowd in Sharjah as there is a large Afghanistan community in the UAE," he said.

"So we are really excited about Afghanistan. They are also making some great grounds in terms of infrastructure development in and around Kabul and some other centres in Afghanistan and even making some good progress with their administration.

"We are hoping Afghanistan can put up a really competitive performance against Pakistan."

Naming the UAE among the up and coming countries, Anderson said: "The UAE, though unfortunately they did not qualify for the Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers, have the abilities and talent.

"Nepal is also another country which has done well over the last few years and is getting better. Ireland and Scotland have done very well. In fact, Scotland has made some great steps with their grassroot programmes.

"Another country which has taken some big steps and will be playing in the T20 qualifiers is Papua New Guinea."