MCC in historic Afghanistan clash

Mike Gatting captains the MCC © Getty Images

The MCC are playing their historic first-ever match against Afghanistan at the Police Ground in Mumbai on Thursday and former England skipper Mike Gatting will lead tourists in the last match of their visit to India.

Gatting said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead MCC in this historic game against Afghanistan. Cricket has developed rapidly in the country over the last few years.

“MCC is keen to assist this process - as it is in all emerging cricket-playing nations.”

Cricket's popularity in Afghanistan has surged since many of the refugees who fled from the country in the early 1980s, after the Soviet invasion, started to return from Pakistan - where they saw the game and started to play and follow it.

The MCC President, Robin Marlar said: “This match is the culmination of many months of hard work. It all started several years ago when an MCC Member, Mark Scrase-Dickens, raised the issue of Afghan cricket at a Club AGM.

“Subsequently, at the Asian Cricket Council in London last summer, I was asked to help and we have been so pleased with the contributions made by the World Cricket Academy in Mumbai and, of course, the authorities in Afghanistan who have been swift to seize the opportunity.

“This is merely the beginning: because of the intensity of interest in the game in Afghanistan, there is no reason why that country should not progress year upon year with Bangladesh - the newest of the Test-playing nations - as the example to follow.”

The MCC team will be selected from: Mike Gatting (captain), Tony Matharu, Bryan Jones, Sam Anderson, Stephen Brogan, Paul Carroll, Matthew Friedlander, Chinmay Gupte, Michael Jarrett, Richard Kettleborough, Tom Leeming, Danny Miller, Sameer Patel, Tim Smith, David Snellgrove