India, Oct. 13 -- England batter Ollie Pope has decided to pull out of the Afghanistan Premier League T20 ahead of the upcoming draft for their inaugural season. Pope made the decision amid backlash against English players for potential participation, as the ECB has refused to play Afghanistan recently due to the Taliban's treatment of women.

Richard Thompson, the board chairman, said last week that the ECB would have to think very carefully indeed before granting NOCs to English players to play in the APL, citing UK restraint of trade laws as the problem.

Rob Key, the ECB's managing director of men's cricket, said players should take a moral stand on participating in franchise competitions, even if there are limited legal grounds to pr...