Introduction
The Afghanistan Cricket Federation (ACF) was founded in June 1995 and awarded Affiliate Membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001.
Although cricket has been played in the country since 1992. The primary objective of the ACF is to develop and promote the game of cricket in Afghanistan. A key aim is to introduce the sport to an increasing number of indigenous cricketers. Furthermore, the federation has assumed control of official cricket in the country which currently consists of 29 registered clubs. Since formation, the ACF has organised numerous development programmes for the promotion of cricket. We are pleased to report that the results have been good and therefore, cricket is very popular here and growing rapidly. In order to foster this growth and to further the promotion of Afghan cricket, we invited Mr Nasim-ul-Ghani - ICC's Regional Development Manager for Asia to review and advise us on local cricket and facilities which helped us in being awarded Affiliate Membership.
The Afghanistan Government supports cricket and has officially recognised the ACF. The ACF has a complete governing body structure, and our President is elected based on his administrative and cricketing skills. The current ACF administrative structure is:

President: Allah Dad Noori
Vice-president:Taj Malik
Director: Hayatullah
General Manager: Abdul Khalil
General Email address: Afghanistan Cricket Federation

ACF Membership Rules
Each National Club wishing to become a member of the ACF is responsible for paying annual membership fees. The fee, besides giving voting rights at the election, also entitles the club to participate in the league. ACF rules also ensure that individuals in any sports club and individual membership is increasing. Each club must have two teams, one senior team and another junior team. The senior means in age of over-19 and junior means under-19. Each club must have about 30 playing members. All of these players are to be Afghan citizens.

a) Full Membership of the ACF shall be open to National (Clubs) being corporate bodies, each of which controls club cricket in a distinct area of Afghanistan.
- The number of delegates to the Executive Committee shall be: Two from Kandahar, Two (2) from Khost, Two (2) from Kabul and One each (1) from Nangarhar, Logar, Kunar and Herat provinces.
- Each full member shall pay such annual membership as may be determined at the Annual General Meeting. If a Delegate is absent from any meeting, a substitute, appointed by his representative, shall have full power to act on his behalf.

d) Associate Membership shall be open to any body, company and partnership or individual that applies for membership and pays a membership fee prescribed by the Executive Committee. Associate Members shall not be entitled to representation on the Executive Committee but shall be entitled to such privileges in relation to admission to matches as may be determined by the Executive Committee.

c) Affiliate Membership shall be open to any body other then a body which is involved in the organization of representative cricket in Afghanistan and whose application for membership is accepted by the Executive Committee. Affiliate Members shall pay such annual membership as may be determined by the Executive Committee.

Playing Rules
The official league inter-provincial tournament is played according to international rules and the matches are based on 50 overs per innings. We also have an inter-district tournament in which we play 30 over matches regularly. But in our villages and other cities they play cricket according to the situation. We also have inter-provincial cricket tours for playing limited-over and 3-day matches, the facilities have been provided by ACF to encourage the players.

Officers and Responsibilities
The Officers of the ACF shall comprise the President; the Chairman of the Executive Committee, the General Secretary, the Honorary Treasurer and such other Officers as may from time to time be elected. All the Officers shall be elected at the relevant Annual General Meeting from nominations submitted in writing to the ACF but not later then 14 days before the date the Annual General Meeting. In default of any such written nominations, then nominations proposed and seconded by Delegates of Officers may be received at the Annual General Meeting; save however, the Chairman of the Executive Committee at its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting.

a) President
The President shall:
- Be the ACF's head and its Principal representative.
- Chair the Annual General Meeting (in his absence the chair will be taken by the chairman of the Executive Committee) and be entitled to vote at that meeting.
- Be a non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
- Be entitled to receive the papers for and to attend and speak (but not vote) at the meetings of any sub-committee except the Selection Committee.
- Be appointed for a period of three years. At the end of this term of office, he may be re-elected.

b) Vice President
The Vice-president shall:
- Chair meetings of the Executive Committee at which he shall be entitled to exercise a deliberative vote and a casting vote.
- Be entitled to receive the papers for and speak (but not to vote) at the meetings of any sub-committee except the Selection Committee.
- Be elected annually by the Executive Committee at its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting.

In the absence of the Chairman, the chair at the meetings of the Executive Committee shall be taken by a person elected by the Delegates from the Committee members present. Such a person shall be entitled to exercise a casting vote and, if he is a Delegate, a deliberative vote.

c) General Secretary
The General Secretary, who shall not be a Delegate, shall be responsible to the Executive Committee for the proper conduct of the administrative affairs of the ACF in accordance with the decisions of the Executive Committee and its sub-committees and, in particular, he shall:
- Arrange all Annual General Meetings and meeting of the Executive Committee and it sub-committees and give due notices, at least ten (10) days in advance, where possible, in writing to those entitled to attend.
- Take minutes, recording the decisions made by all such meetings, clear them with the person who chaired the meeting and, expect in the case of the Annual General Meeting, distribute copies to those entitled to attend, and to the Secretary of each association, within one month of the meeting.
- Bring all committee and sub-committee decisions to the notice of the person responsible for implementing them and ensure that they are acted upon within the prescribed time.
- Bring all correspondence to the notice of the appropriate officer or committee and ensure that any necessary reply issues as promptly as possible.
- Draw up programmes of representative fixtures for the approval of the Executive Committee.
- Negotiate on the ACF's behalf with ACC, ICC and other representative cricket bodies and organisations.
- Carry out such other duties in relation to matches and competitions as are assigned to him by the Executive Committee.

The duties listed at a) to d). in relation to any sub-committee may be delegated to a person, other than the General Secretary, appointed by and from the sub-committee to act as its Secretary. The General Secretary shall be entitled to receive the papers for all meetings of such sub-committees.

d) Honorary Treasurer:
The Honorary Treasurer, who shall not be a Delegate shall be responsible to the Executive Committee for the proper conduct of financial affairs of the ACF, for providing the information necessary to enable activities to be planned so as to achieve the best possible value for money in accordance with budgets and financial procedures laid down by the Executive Committee. In particular he shall:
- Collect all monies due to the ACF and lodge them in the bank account at the earliest possible date.
- May call payment due by associations on the date prescribed by specific credit agreements or normal business practice.
- Maintain proper records of all receipts and payments.
- Transfer all funds surplus to the budget's immediate needs to an interest bearing account or security.
- Provide timely advice to the Executive Committee (or the relevant sub-committee) on the annual income and expenditure budgets and on the specific budgets which should be allocated to each competition, representative match or other activity.
- Report to the Executive Committee on budgetary performance, both generally and for events and activities for which specific financial allocations have been made.
- Effect such insurances as necessary to safeguard the property and offices of the ACF.
- Prepare and have audited, the annual statements of accounts for submission to the next Annual General Meeting.
- Be entitled to receive the papers for and to attend and speak (but not vote) at the meetings of all committees and sub committees except the selection committee.

Annual General Meeting
- Shall be held no later than 31st March each year.
- May be attended by Delegates, the Officers, the Associate Members and such other person(s) as the Executive Committee may invite; but only the President and Delegates may vote.
- Shall consider and, if approved, adopt the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting.
- Shall consider and, if approved, adopt General Secretary's report and the Annual Statement of Accounts.
- Shall elect the Officers for the following year (with the exception of the Chairman of the Executive Committee).
- Shall determine the full Member's Membership Fees for the following year.
- Shall consider and, if approved by ten (10) of those entitled to vote, adopt proposed alterations to the Constitution.

Executive Committee
The Executive Committee shall:
- Have ultimate responsibility for all the affairs of the ACF including matters of finance, and for the action of all Officer's sub-committees.
- Have power to make regulations for the conduct of matches and competitions under its control and to take any disciplinary action rendered necessary by the violation of such regulations.
- Have the power at any time to delegate any of its powers and activities to sub-committees and to determine or alter the membership thereof.
- Comprise the Delegates, the Officers and the Chairmen of sub-committees; but only the Delegates and the Chairman of the Executive Committee may vote.
- Meet at least four times a year on dates and at venues to be determined by the Officers and, additionally, within 30 days of the receipt by the General Secretary of a written request from a Full Member for an emergency meeting. At all meetings, the quorum shall be ten (10) of those entitled to vote.
- Elect, at its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting, its Chairman, a Selection Committee and the Chairmen of its sub-committees.

Constitution
The ACF Constitution may be altered only at an Annual General Meeting. Notice of any proposed alteration must be given in writing by a Full Member to the General Secretary at least 30 days before the date of the meeting.

Coaching and Umpires
Coaches: We have four qualified beginner level coaches but do not have any qualified advanced coaches. We do not have any system for training coaches in Afghanistan so far but our qualified beginner coaches obtained training in Pakistan.
Umpires: We have 4 qualified beginner level umpires and one qualified advanced umpire. All of our senior players and junior players have complete knowledge about cricket rules.

Facilities
- We are using 14 grounds during the cricket season and have about 36 cricket pitches. Out of these 36 pitches, 18 are concrete and others are matting on grass. All of the big clubs do not have net practice facilities.
- We do not have any qualified pitch curators so far but our senior players know about pitch preparation.
- We do not have indoor cricket facilities.

Regional Development
Every year we organise two inter-provincial cricket tournaments in Kabul. One is in April and another in September. In every provinces we also have inter-district cricket tournaments as well as high school and university level cricket. Our cricket calendar is all months of the year. The Afghan National Team was selected two years ago and toured Pakistan for some friendly matches and coaching during the matches. The National Team's performance was very good.

Conclusion
The ACF firmly believes that our ICC Affiliate Membership, will add credibility to the development work being undertaken and support our case for sponsorship amongst international companies and organisations. This membership will also allow ACF to apply for ACC membership and if granted, would enable participation in both club and international tournaments being organised by ACC. We are thankful to the ICC for accepting our application for Affiliate Membership.