Fears over the safety of England players while in Pakistan are underpinning English cricket’s refusal to boycott next month’s Champions Trophy match against Taliban-governed Afghanistan.

England's men's players have the "power" to make their own stand and refuse to play Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy, says Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.

There have been repeated calls from politicians from UK and South Africa asking their respective cricket teams to boycott their matches against Afghanistan at ICC Champions Trophy.

Exclusive: ECB wants ICC action instead of taking unilateral decision not to play Champions Trophy match in Pakistan

The ECB is against forfeiting the game – if England do not play, Afghanistan get full points. Given how small the cricketing world is, the ICC can ill afford to hurt the game in Afghanistan. And then there is the all-important question of what India thinks.

England’s cricket authorities have rejected calls to boycott an upcoming match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy over the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls. Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB),

A group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month, saying the country's cricket board (ECB) needed to take a stand against the Taliban's crackdown on women.

A group of more than 160 British politicians have called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott next month's Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan as a stand against the Taliban regime's assault on women's rights.

Seven MPs and peers from Northern Ireland back boycott due to the Taliban's oppression of women.