International Cricket Council (ICC) has welcomed Australia's decision to play its first-ever game against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.<br/><br/>Reports have quoted International Cricket Council President president Alan Isaac saying that the fixture supports ICC's initiative to provide more opportunities to top ranking affiliate and associate member teams to play against strong opposition.<br/><br/>Australia is currently the world's number one in One-day-International and its decision to play with the emerging Afghan cricket team next month indicates Afghanistan's increasing importance in world cricket.<br/><br/>The match between Afghanistan and Australia will be a warm up for the forthcoming Australia-Pakistan series, which immediately precedes the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, in September-October this year in which Australia, Pakistan and Afghanistan will be competing.