Afghanistan to get its first cricket board

Afghanistan cricket took another step towards establishing itself Wednesday when President Hamid Karzai gave the go-ahead for creation of the country`s first-ever national cricket board.
The president announced the step during a meeting with the team, which has been elevated to the international arena since the 2001 removal of the Taliban regime, a statement from his office said.Afghanistan received ODI status for the first time earlier this year when the war-torn country finished in the top six of the 2011 World Cup qualifying event.They will also attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Twenty20 championships in October.It underscores a meteoric rise for a sport that only started building here in recent years, as thousands of refugees from years of crushing war started returning from exile in cricket-mad Pakistan after the Taliban was ousted.The cricketers had previously fallen under the country`s government-funded National Olympic Committee which regulates and manages all major sports in the country.The cricket team had long called for its own structure and frequently complains about its lack of budget and facilities which fall way behind those of other cricketing nations."This is breaking news for the sportsmen of Afghanistan," the team`s secretary general Taj Malook said."We will get our own budget and attract the international and government support we need," he said. "This has been much needed."Karzai will be the patron-in-chief of the new board, which is expected to be set up in the next days, Malook said.