Friday's match in Sharjah is fitting because Afghanistan's cricketing roots lie in Pakistan, where refugees fleeing the 1979 Soviet invasion took up the sport in dusty camps near the countries' shared border. “We are delighted with Afghanistan and they are a wonderful story for us to tell how you can overcome the challenges and work through the system,” Anderson said. “They are making some great grounds in terms of infrastructure development in and around Kabul.”

The match in the UAE comes 11 years after Afghanistan joined the ICC, and follows the country winning one-day status by finishing fifth in the World Cup 2011 qualifiers. They also qualified for the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies, and in the same year won the Inter-Continental Cup for associate countries before finishing second at the Asian Games in China. The country, still ravaged by conflict, has played 18 one-day internationals since 2009 but all against associate and affiliate teams Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Scotland.

“It is important for these nations to play bigger teams in order to progress,” Anderson said. Afghanistan has been followed on the cricketing path by Nepal and tiny Papua New Guinea, who will both take part in qualifying for this year's World T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates next month. And while the impoverished countries are far removed from enormous and powerful China, cricket has also made inroads in the world's most populous nation following years of initiatives.

“ICC tend to talk about China and USA in the same breath, whereas the USA has a significant cricket culture as there is a large Asian and Caribbean community so they take a lot of interest,” Anderson said. “But China on the other hand is next to no cricket culture.”