CRICKET chiefs have “significantly” raised the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) budget but provided no update on the women’s team.

The ACB said the International Cricket Council (ICC) will give “technical assistance” and “capacity-building opportunities” to the body.

The women’s team say there has been no contact from the ICC since they fled to Australia after the Taliban’s takeover.

ACB chair Mirwais Ashraf called it a “good meeting for Afghanistan”.

“We will receive a significantly greater budget compared to today,” he said.

A new course to develop Afghan coaches will also be started while the ACB says the ICC will work with its staff to help it become “technically self-sufficient”.

Earlier this month, the Afghanistan women’s cricket team said they were hopeful the board meeting would result in a positive decision on their future.

The ICC was expected to discuss the international status of Afghanistan, who should have a women’s set up in place as a full member nation, at a meeting on Monday.

After taking power, the Taliban has banned women from universities, parks and sports and raided the homes of female athletes.

The Afghanistan team want the ICC to take action to enable them to represent their country from Australia and wrote to the global governing body in December, only for the ICC to say it is an issue for the ACB.

Speaking to the BBC Stumped Podcast, Afghanistan player Firooza Afghan said: “For the first time it’s possible they will make a fair decision for us because it’s our right to play for our country.

“It doesn’t matter where we live, the important thing is that we are still fighting to have a team here.

“Cricket is very important to me. I grew up with it and I hope one day I can play for Afghanistan.”(BBC Sport)