ACB
25.10.2010 08:07
Kabul, Afghanistan,25 October 2010.
As participation and interest in the game of cricket grows rapidly in Afghanistan, construction has begun on the country’s first international standard cricket stadium in the Ghazi Amanullah Khan township in Nangarhar Province. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) hopes that the construction will be completed in 5 months and that the stadium will be ready for the planned Ramazan Cup matches to be held in Ramazan next year.
The stadium will be one of the centerpieces in the cricket “surge” currently sweeping across Afghanistan. His Excellency, Dr Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s Finance Minister and President of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, recently announced plans to build cricket grounds in all of the country’s 34 provinces over the coming two years.
The stadium has strong local support and the 30 acres of land for the Nangarhar Stadium was donated by Haji Najeeb Zarab, a well-known local businessman. Mr Zarab said that if the plan was slowed by financial constraints, he and other local traders were ready to provide financial support to ensure the completion of the stadium.
“Once completed, the stadium will not only help solve the difficulties Afghan cricketers currently face due to lack of proper playing facilities, but will enable the ACB to invite other nations to play in an international standard venue in Afghanistan,” Chief Executive of the ACB, Dr. Hamid Shinwari, said, "The stadium will include four international standard pitches, an advanced cricket academy and a hostel for players training at the academy."
The present construction allows seating for 7,000 spectators due to budgetary constraints, but the stadium has been designed so that this can be expanded in the future to more than 60,000 people.
Nagarhar Province, to the east of Kabul, is known as the ‘capital of cricket' in Afghanistan with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 young people actively involved in the game. Its relatively mild weather allows for the playing of cricket year round. Some parts of Afghanistan can only play during summer and spring due to severe winters and snow.
Nangarhar won the National Inter-Provincial Tournament held in Kabul in October. The tournament involved teams from 28 of the 34 provinces of the country.
“The ACB sees cricket as more than just a sporting activity in Afghanistan,” Dr Shinwari said, “we believe it is a tool for peace-building in our country. The start of construction on the Nangarhar Stadium is not just a physical building, but a sign also of a new way of building our country, building our young people and building peace.”
About US: The Afghanistan Cricket Board is the governing body for the game of cricket in Afghanistan and an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council.
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