MELBOURNE: Afghan women cricketers will finally get high-level support in a bid to rejoin international competition after the sport’s world governing body created a taskforce to coordinate direct funding, elite coaching and facilities for displaced players.
Dozens of players from Afghanistan’s national women’s team relocated to Australia after the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021 and enforced bans on women’s sports. The players have been seeking official support ever since.
The International Cricket Council released a statement late Sunday saying it reached an agreement with the sport’s national associations in Australia, India and England to support the displaced Afghan women’s players.
ICC chairman Jay Shah said his organization is “deeply committed to fostering inclusivity and ensuring every cricketer has the opportunity to shine, regardless of their circumstances.”
“The ICC believes this (support fund) will not only help preserve the sporting careers of Afghan women cricketers but also reinforce the sport’s role as a unifying force that transcends borders and adversity,” he said.
An Afghanistan Women’s XI played a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in an exhibition match supported by the Australian government in January, bringing together 21 female players who were formerly contracted to the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
Since leaving Afghanistan many of the women cricketers have been based in the Australian capital and in Melbourne and playing for club teams in local competitions.
Firooza Amiri said ahead of that exhibition match in January that her team “represents millions of women in Afghanistan who are denied their rights.”
Amiri fled her home country with her family and first traveled to Pakistan before being evacuated to Australia.
Under Taliban rule, the Afghanistan Cricket Board cannot field a national women’s team because the country’s laws forbid women from playing sport, studying and medical education, moves that have been criticized by world groups including the International Criminal Court.
Afghanistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council and a condition of that status should require it to have a women’s national team.
England and Australia have refused to participate in direct series against Afghanistan in protest, but continue to play against the Afghan men in ICC events.
It was the Afghanistan men’s historic run to the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup last year that sparked the women’s team members to again approach the ICC about funding.
The group first approached the ICC in 2023, asking for support for a refugee team based in Australia to rejoin international cricket.
