English cricketers aiming to play in a men's T20 franchise tournament organised by the Afghanistan Cricket Board have been urged to think about their "daughters, sisters or mothers".

The inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) will be staged in the United Arab Emirates later this year. England players Ollie Pope and Luke Wood have both registered for the tournament draft, along with fellow Englishmen Moeen Ali, Reece Topley, James Vince, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Laurie Evans. Their involvement comes despite the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) refusal to schedule bilateral men's cricket against Afghanistan because of the Taliban's treatment of women and girls.

The ECB is likely to grant players the No Objection Certificates required to play, provided the tournament is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Afghanistan Cricket Board has applied to the ICC for approval. Tonia Antoniazzi, the Labour MP who led calls for a boycott of the last England-Afghanistan match, told BBC Sport that players considering the APL should think seriously. "Why are we here again? Women and girls in Afghanistan are denied the same rights as those in our country," she said. "Does that not concern the players, especially those with daughters, sisters or mothers?"

Amnesty International's Felix Jakens told players to give proper thought to playing in a tournament organised by a cricket board from a country which has "erased women and girls from public life". The five-team APL is due to start on 27 December.