Afghans to replace Aussies in SA

An 'A' team from Afghanistan has accepted an invitation from Cricket South Africa to replace Australia A in the triangular one-day series against South Africa A and India A to be played later this month.

The ongoing pay dispute between the Australian Cricketer's Association and Cricket Australia resulted in the Australia A squad refusing to tour South Africa, paving the way for Afghanistan A to join the tournament.

Last month the Afghans were granted Test cricket status and this series shapes as a wonderful opportunity for some of their elite players to take on high-quality opposition in the 50-over format.

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"We are delighted that Afghanistan have accepted our invitation and look forward to welcoming them to our country for the very first time," said CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

"Afghanistan were deservedly granted Full Member status at the ICC annual conference last month after showing impressive growth in recent years.

"They are a passionate cricket nation and I expect the Afghanistan A team to compete strongly against our A team and India A in the upcoming tri-series."

Afghanistan Chief Executive Shafiqullah Stanikzai said his playing group was relishing the opportunity to take part in the tri-series against two of world cricket's superpowers.

"We are very pleased to accept Cricket South Africa's invitation to participate in the upcoming triangular series," Stanikzai said.

"This will be our first-ever visit to South Africa and I am certain that this will give the Afghanistan A team very good exposure to competitive cricket."

India A will continue their tour after the final of the one-day series for the two four-day matches against South Africa A.