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The ACB said it was “powerless” to change Afghanistan’s cultural and religious environment, and the cancellation of the Test would not have any impact either.

The board also said the comments made by the Taliban regarding female participation in cricket were not “substantially different” to the position held by the ACB during the democratically elected Karzai and Ghani governments in the past 20 years.

“We are concerned that, if other countries’ cricket administrators follow CA, then Afghan cricket will be alienated from the cricket world, the development of cricket in our country will be stalled and, even more concerning, cricket may cease to exist in Afghanistan,” ACB chief Hamid Shinwari said.

CA, whose chief Nick Hockley is in regular contact with his Afghanistan counterpart, wants to see a commitment from the ACB to the women’s game.

“We made our position very clear in the statement and remain in regular dialogue with our colleagues at the ACB,” CA said in a statement on Saturday.

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Afghanistan’s status as a full member of the ICC will be discussed at the next board meeting of game’s global governing body. This had been scheduled to take place in person during the T20 World Cup in November but will be brought forward as a virtual conference, according to a source familiar with the issue.

A 2/3 majority of the 17-person board is required for action to be taken against Afghanistan, who face being turfed out of the T20 World Cup if it is suspended and not allowed to play international cricket. CA chairman Earl Eddings is Australia’s representative on the board.

The complexity of global politics makes it difficult to predict what stance nations will take.