Rachel Spencer

Dear English Cricket Board @ECB_cricket (and specifically your cowardly CEO Richard Gould), You have received a strong, yet polite and reasonable letter, written by a group of UK politicians calling for you to support the women of Afghanistan. Afghan women are being brutally oppressed by the Taliban regime. I think you know this, because every other fucker does. The letter is here. xitter.cf/ToniaAntoniazzi/status… You don’t seem to have read it properly or I wouldn’t be so fucked off by your response. I can see how carefully worded your “gonna do fuck all and see if anyone notices” statement is. Well, I fucking noticed and lots of other women will notice. We are well used to being ignored and brushed off like this. Let’s have a look at what you tried to pass off as a response shall we? You said the ECB is, "committed to finding a solution" which "upholds the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan". What fucking solution do you expect to find? Where are you looking? Go on tell us what the actual fuck you think you are going to solve magically - rather than just stopping the England team playing cricket - against men representing a regime who are all but keeping women in a box until they die? Women in Afghanistan are banned from education, exercise in gyms, speaking outside the home, singing in their home, reading aloud IN THEIR OWN HOME, being seen through windows, working in jobs they love, helping each other give birth with appropriate education and care. I don’t know what more terrible measures the Taliban have planned for women, but I bet they are working on it. Meanwhile you polish up your cricket balls @englishcricket and hope this irritating request that England just sit it out to support them, blows over. It won’t. Our voices are going to get louder -because we have them and can use them – unlike the women of Afghanistan. You also said, “While there has not been a consensus on further international action within the ICC, the ECB will continue to actively advocate for such measures,…a coordinated, ICC-wide approach would be significantly more impactful than unilateral actions by individual members." This effectively says, “It’s not us its THEM – what can WE do if the ICC won’t act?” I’ll tell you what you can do you fucking cowards, you can defy the ICC. Just tell them you won’t fucking play and see what happens. Grow a fucking pair. Stand up to them. Yes, we know that you are contracted to the ICC to do what they say. We know there will be penalties. Your bank balance might be hurt. Let me take you back once more to consider the women who will be stoned in the street if they don’t cover their entire bodies in case men are tempted to rape them. The two things don’t really measure up, now do they? So stop hiding behind the cover of ICC inaction and act on behalf of those brutally oppressed women and against the barbaric monsters doing it. Your indifference drips from your weasel words. You can do something – you choose not to. Women are watching. You say you will, "explore all possible avenues for meaningful change" but think there are "diverse perspectives" on the issue. What are those “diverse perspectives”? On one side you have women with a regime boot on their throats, removing every possible freedom a woman could have, and on the other side a team who want to play cricket for a few hours, so they don’t get told off by the ICC. Fuck off with “diverse”. You’re a bunch of evasive cowards clutching to your purse strings while the women of Afghanistan aren’t allowed basic humanity. And finally, you commit the ultimate insult of telling us all, “We understand the concerns raised by those who believe that a boycott of men's cricket could inadvertently support the Taliban's efforts to suppress freedoms and isolate Afghan society…It's crucial to recognise the importance of cricket as a source of hope and positivity for many Afghans, including those displaced from the country." Are you taking the piss? This is your counter argument? People enjoy cricket and it helps them cope with the fact that the Taliban are smothering women’s rights in the most horrific of ways. Like cricket is a sticking plaster for some of the worst abuses against women the world has ever seen? Can you even fucking hear yourselves? It isn’t just that you are “inadvertently supporting” the Taliban, it is that you are actively looking the other fucking way at what they are doing to women, so you can play cricket and not face ICC sanctions. How the fuck have you got the brass neck to suggest that women asking you to stop playing cricket for one fucking match, whilst women are being treated horrifically in the country you are playing against, are SPOILING the “hope and positivity” of other Afghans? These are some of the most horrifically cowardly contortions in order to avoid DOING THE RIGHT THING I’ve seen. You know what is happening to women in Afghanistan, everyone does. If you field the English team in Lahore on 26th February 2025 for the Championship Trophy you are saying very clearly that you’re fine with the way the Taliban are treating women. If you aren’t fine with the barbaric abuse of women, pull your team out immediately. It’s not hard, it’s just costly. What do you choose? Money or humanity? Women are waiting for your answer. If it isn’t the right one, you should expect us to keep standing up against you and calling you a bunch of fucking cowards. Jean Hatchet.