New Delhi: Cricket Australia (CA) has decided to organise a match for the refugee Afghanistan women’s team in Melbourne next year. The move comes after multiple pleads made by former Afghanistan cricketers who fled the country in the wake of Taliban’s rule established there in 2021.
An exhibition match will be staged between Afghanistan women’s XI (the refugee team) and Cricket Without Borders XI at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on June 30. This match will be played on the parallel lines with the first day of the Women’s Ashes (Australia women vs England women). This will be a double celebrations for women’s cricket Down Under one-off red-ball marks 90th anniversary of women’s Test cricket.
A total of 22 Afghanistan women players, who were earlier contracted with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) before Taliban’s takeover, have moved to Canberra and Melbourne since arriving to Australia after fleeing away from their country. This means the players could never train or play together as a team.
Before the exhibition match, all the players will gather for a two-day camp in Melbourne to reconnect and train along with each other.
CA Chief Executive Nick Hockley said that the match will celebrate the relocation of Afghan players and they will get a better opportunity to once again play as a group together.
“Many people across cricket and the community have come together to provide support for members of the Afghanistan women’s team since their relocation to Australia and this match will be a celebration of that work,” Hockley said in a statement.
“I’m delighted that their ambition to play together will be achieved in this exhibition match which will be a wonderful addition to the many events around the Day/Night Women’s Ashes Test,” he added.
Why Afghanistan women cricketers cannot represent their country at international level?
As many 25 female cricketers from Afghanistan were given central contracts by the ACB in November 2020, but the team never played any international match as the Taliban reclaimed control after 20 years. The Taliban government adheres to the conservative laws, which prohibits women to participate in sporting related activities.
This influenced to many of the cricket and football players to run away from the country to keep their ambitions of playing alive.
In July this year, 17 Afghanistan women players wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to help them set up a refugee team, which would allow them to compete at the international stage. The move came after the Afghanistan men’s cricket team reached the semifinals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. But the ICC designated the ACB as the official board which could form the national team.
However, the recent move from Cricket Australia, which is backed by Cricket Victoria and Cricket ACT, comes as a huge relief for Afghanistan women players.
“With all the time that is going, the girls are losing hope to play cricket any more. When you go to another country, it’s not easy to get into that country and start playing cricket,” Firooza Amiri, one of the refugee Afganistan players, told The Sydney Morning Herald last month.
“Also, they are not all playing in Dandenong, they are in different areas, different cities. Since we arrived here, they are feeling hopeless, they are thinking there’s not going to be a way they can play for Afghanistan,” she added.
Cricket Australia (CA) has decided to organise a match for the refugee Afghanistan women’s team in Melbourne next year. The move comes after multiple pleads made by former Afghanistan cricketers who fled the country in the wake of Taliban’s rule established there in 2021. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
