Afghanistan’s inspiring journey from an Affiliate member to a full member (Test playing) cricket country with players dominating T20 leagues appearances has been rubbing off on their neighboring countries in the region, with the growth and development of the sport happening at a rapid pace in Tajikistan and now, Uzbekistan.
Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan has been steadily making progress in terms of co-ordination with different agencies and Cricket Boards since last year, with agreements in place for development of the sport in the country with Tajikistan Cricket Board and Cricket Russia. CEO Aziz G. Mihliev flew to UAE in November 2020, where he met officials from the Executive Board of the Asian Cricket Council and regional manager of ICC, Iqbal Sikander.
The meetings were held to discuss the agenda of Uzbekistan looking for membership with both ACC and ICC, and could see an ACC delegation visit Tashkent in 2021 for on-field inspection of the development program and facilities.
Since the registration of the Cricket Board in December 2019 by the country’s Justice Ministry, a domestic T20 tournament was held between two teams, namely “Barlos” and “Afrosiyob”, and the matches were witnessed in person by the leadership of the National Olympic Committee, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports, the Uzbekistan Cricket Federation.
CFU were also able to engage Andy Moles, former Afghanistan national squad coach, to come to Tashkent to conduct Level 1 cricket courses training for local coaches. Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan and Andy Moles also held a seminar at University of World Languages on cricket for students to get interested in cricket.
The collaboration with Cricket Russia will involve seminars, conferences, development programs, consultations, exchange of sports delegations and working visits between the two countries. An off-site meeting is being planned in February-April 2021 in Tashkent, while in May-September 2021, a team from Uzbekistan will be invited to take part in exhibition games during the T20 Russian Cricket Cup tournament in Moscow.
