Afghanistan to play at Lord's against MCC in July

It’s not every day that an associate team gets to play at the “Mecca of Cricket”, but Afghanistan will write a new chapter in their cricket history when they play against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s on July 11th. Last year in 2016, MCC also hosted Nepal in a match which they lost. This time, it is the turn of Afghanistan to go to England this summer and experience a new level of cricket and hopefully do well.

Players involved in the match

The MCC is not taking the Afghanistan team lightly as they have roped in the services of former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara. The prolific test batsman who retired from all forms of cricket a couple of years back has been currently playing in England representing the county team Surrey.

He has shown no signs of rustiness as he has amassed an astonishing 321 runs at a brilliant average of 80.25. The legendary batsman had this to say on his selection to represent the MCC, “I am very excited to be playing against Afghanistan at Lord’s this summer. I do hope that they will very soon attain Test status and contribute to improve and become a lasting fixture on the elite world cricketing stage”.

Sangakkara said that the Afghanistan team is a force to reckon with citing that they have shown quality improvement. Recently, Afghanistan made big strides in their cricket when two of their players, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan got selected to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the lucrative Indian Premier League. Also playing for the MCC is former New Zealand captain Brendon Mccullum.

Initiatives like these help elevate the standard of cricket among associate nations as it helps them to play against some renowned names of the game and study them from up close. At the end of the day, the game will only be richer by their presence.