The ECB is against forfeiting the game – if England do not play, Afghanistan get full points. Given how small the cricketing world is, the ICC can ill afford to hurt the game in Afghanistan. And then there is the all-important question of what India thinks.

A group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month, saying the country's cricket board (ECB) needed to take a stand against the Taliban's crackdown on women.

England have been accused of making an “appalling and misogynistic” decision by going ahead with plans to play Afghanistan despite fresh calls for a boycott of next month’s Champions Trophy fixture.