An Afghan XI packed with national cricket stars trounced an English village side by 124 runs Friday in what they hailed as the first one-day international in their war-torn country.
The side from Ditchling Cricket Club, captained by British radio and TV personality Jamie Theakston, managed 138 for seven after Afghanistan had scored 262 in the Twenty20 game at a heavily-secured NATO military base in Kabul.
It was a rematch after the Afghan national team ended a seven-match 2006 tour of England with a 96-run win over Ditchling in East Sussex.
PHOTO: AFP
“They are much, much better than we are,” former Kent and England all-rounder Matthew Fleming said after leaving the field having scored 1 in a goodwill game watched by about 200 troops, officials and fans.
The English players flew to battered Afghanistan to support its fledgling cricket side, said Fleming, who visited the insurgency-hit country in 2007 to promote the sport.
“We believe that cricket can change people’s lives. We just want to give the people who wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity, the opportunity,” Fleming said.
Theakston, who scored 20, said the visit was a chance for the English players to see for themselves the situation in the country.
“I think it is important for people to understand there isn’t a suicide bomber on every corner,” Theakston said.
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