First 'Afghan ODI' held in Kabul
BBC News - May 1st, 2009


The English were outplayed by a strong Afghan side

The Afghan cricket team has beaten an English village side in what has been billed as the first one-day international held in the country.

The Afghan team, fresh from a tournament in which they came close to World Cup qualification, made 262 runs in their 20 overs.
The English village team, from Ditchling in the southern county of Sussex, scored 138 for seven.

The match, played in a Nato base in Kabul, was watched by 200 people.

"They are much, much better than we are," former Kent and England all-rounder Matthew Fleming told the AFP news agency after leaving the field with one run in the goodwill game. The English team - captained by British radio and TV personality Jamie Theakston- flew to war-hit Afghanistan to support its fledgling cricket side, Mr Fleming said.

"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," he said.

Correspondents say that the Afghan team has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the international rankings over the seven years since the US-led invasion ousted the Taleban.

Cricket now has many fans in a country eager for good news amid mounting insurgent violence.