Ollie Pope has taken his name out of the Afghanistan Premier League T20 draft on October 24, 2026. As worries about English players possibly playing in the game grew, Will Smeed and David Willey both said they were pulling out.
Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, didn’t say anything about the pick until Monday morning. Ollie Pope made it first. Key pushed the English players to think about what their choices meant on a moral level.
Legally speaking, it is hard to stop people from entering these competitions. People who are taking part must be ready to make the right moral choice when it comes down to it. Key told BBC Test Match Special, “It’s easy for me to say I wouldn’t go play in it, but in the end, it’s up to the player to decide.”
Ollie Pope just signed a new one-year contract. He was England’s captain until last summer.
Why was the ECB being looked into for giving NOCs for the APL?
The ECB has a policy of not accepting bilateral matches against Afghanistan because the Afghan government doesn’t allow women to play sports. However, the board was willing to give No-Objection Certificates for the APL. People were very interested in the difference between these two points of view, which made them worry about how consistent the board was.
Since managers often sign players up for franchise league drafts without the players’ knowledge, it’s possible that some players didn’t know they were signed up until they were criticized in public. A lot of people were worried, including Labor MP Tonia Antoniazzi. Her comments made the political side of the conversation stronger.
How’s the APL right now? What English players are still in the draft?
The APL is set to start in the United Arab Emirates on December 27, 2026, but it’s still not clear how long the game will last. Three of the five planned clubs are said to have been sold so far; one source said the future of the league was “touch and go.”
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Dawid Malan is an English player who is still signed up for the draft. Malan has said that he is waiting for advice on how to move forward from the ICC and the ECB before he announces an immediate withdrawal. It’s not clear how many England players are still on the list before October 24 or if more will quit the draft like Pope, Smeed, and Willey.
Part of the CricketDhamaka editorial team, delivering timely and engaging stories covering international cricket, domestic leagues, tournaments, players, and the biggest moments from the sport.
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