Cricket Ireland's decision to host Afghanistan for five one-day internationals this month has drawn the ire of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and could cost Ireland lucrative future fixtures against England The Guardian.

The series begins on Wednesday, with matches scheduled for 5 and 7 August at Bready and 10, 12 and 15 August at Stormont, all in Northern Ireland. Every game will be streamed on YouTube. Rahmat Shah captains the Afghan side for the series.

The ECB's frustration stems from a policy it adopted and has held firmly: England will not play bilateral cricket — meaning scheduled tours or series between two nations, outside of ICC global tournaments — against Afghanistan. That stance is backed by the UK government. ECB chair Richard Thompson has described the Taliban regime as practising "gender apartheid," referring to the ban on women's sport imposed after the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Most of the country's women cricketers fled, with the majority relocating to Australia.

Afghanistan remain the only full member of the ICC, cricket's global governing body, without a women's cricket programme. The ICC has not banned them. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand share England's refusal to play bilateral series against Afghanistan, while Ireland, West Indies, Zimbabwe and the four Asian full members continue to grant fixtures.

England's only meeting with Afghanistan since the Taliban's return came at the Champions Trophy in Lahore last year, a tournament run by the ICC — meaning the ECB could not simply decline without withdrawing from a global event. A specially convened board meeting approved the fixture, which was also criticised by a cross-party group of 160 MPs who had urged England to withdraw.

The ECB has made its position visible beyond scheduling. It organised a tour of England for the Afghan Refugee Women's team and invited them to the T20 World Cup final at Lord's.

For Ireland, the cost of hosting Afghanistan may be measured in lost opportunities closer to home. England played a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord's before each of their 2019 and 2023 home summers, using the match as preparation. The ECB has opted for a warm-up Test against Bangladesh instead next year. England's men did send a second-string side for three T20 internationals in Ireland last September, but no further fixtures between the two appear in the calendar.

England's women will still host Ireland for a three-match ODI series next month, so the relationship is not severed entirely.

In return for this summer's ODIs, Ireland will tour Afghanistan next March for one Test, three ODIs and three T20s — a reciprocal arrangement that reflects Cricket Ireland's determination to build its own schedule regardless of what England decides.