Female cricketers from Afghanistan hope their first competitive match in Australia will “open doors for Afghan women for education, sport and [the] future”.
An Afghanistan Women’s Eleven played a 20-over exhibition match against Cricket Without Borders at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on Thursday, before the Women’s Ashes Test between Australia and England at the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground.
More than 20 members of the Afghanistan national team have been in Australia since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, because female participation in sport in the country has effectively been outlawed.
But they are now hoping to send a message of hope and positivity to their country.
In 2020, 25 players were given professional contracts by the Afghanistan Cricket Board, but after the Taliban returned and they could no longer play or train safely, they had asked the International Cricket Council for permission to play as a refugee team.
The request was denied.
For the exhibition match, the side could not play under the name of Afghanistan women because they are not recognised as a national team by the ICC and they had to wear a custom-made kit as opposed to the official logo.
English (US) ·