The England & Wales Cricket Board have not ruled out boycotting next month’s Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan despite a statement from chief executive Richard Gould on Monday that indicated the fixture would go ahead as planned.

Gould, responding to a cross-party letter from 160 politicians calling for England to pull out of the match in Lahore on 26 February, insisted the matter needs a “coordinated, International Cricket Council-led response”.

ICC rules state that all member nations must have both women’s and men’s teams. But Afghanistan’s men have been allowed to continue playing despite the fact the women’s team has been disbanded since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

It’s part of a wider erosion of women’s rights in the country and the letter written by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, signed by MPs and peers across parliament including Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage, called on the ECB to “stand against sex apartheid and deliver a firm message of solidarity and hope to Afghan women and girls that their suffering has not been overlooked”.

The ECB’s current stand on Afghanistan is that they will not sanction bilateral series against the country but will allow England to play fixtures against them in ICC tournaments.

That stance was branded “cowardly and disappointing” by former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies last week.

But it is understood the ECB are keeping an open mind on whether to boycott the Champions Trophy fixture and will discuss the matter at a board meeting next month.

The i Paper has also been told that Gould and Clare Connor, the former England women’s captain and now the ECB’s deputy CEO, are scheduled to meet with exiled Afghan women’s cricketers in Australia ahead of the women’s Ashes Test in Melbourne later this month.

Most of the 25 women who were centrally contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban came to power fled to Australia. They will play a T20 fixture against a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on 30 January.

Their meeting with Gould and Connor may hold the key to whether England fulfil their Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan.

It is understood the ECB are in contact with the government over the issue and while a boycott of the match seems unlikely, nothing is being ruled out at this stage.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned by the appalling erosion of women and girls rights in Afghanistan.

“While participation in the ICC Champions Trophy is a matter for the International Cricket Council and England and Wales Cricket Board, we are in contact with the ECB on the wider issue of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team.

“We welcome the fact that the ECB are making representations to the ICC on this wider issue and what support can be given.”