In a world where a woman can journey to the moon solo, Afghanistan, a country on earth, tells a starkly different story. There, women are forbidden from leaving their homes without a male chaperone, barred from education beyond sixth grade, and banned from public spaces like parks and gyms after the Taliban returned in 2021. In this harsh reality, a team of women who once found joy on cricket fields have not simply disappeared; their dreams, barely a year old, have been ruthlessly shattered. (More Cricket News)
Back in November 2020, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) harboured a hopeful vision when they contracted 25 women cricket players to establish a women's counterpart to the Afghanistan National Men's Cricket Team. However, by August of the following year, before they could leave their mark in the sport's history, the return of Taliban rule forced all the players to flee to safety scattering into Australia, the UK, and Canada.
They say, 'hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies'. Ergo, the dream of Afghan women cricketers has taken on a new form - that of a refugee team in exile. The hope held by the old Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) remains alive, until the International Cricket Council (ICC) decides otherwise. And perhaps, it may see a revival at the ICC annual meeting of the in Colombo, scheduled between July 19 and 22.
Seventeen of those ACB contracted women players, who sought refuge in Australia, have approached ICC to look into the matter many a times over three years. Yet none of their efforts succeeded until June 29, 2024, when they chose to write an open letter to ICC Chair Greg Barclay.
Not a reply to the letter, but exactly what was needed is happening. A proposal to fund the refugee team for Afghanistan women has emerged in the annual meeting.
A letter to ICC from Afghanistan Women Cricketers in exile
With the Afghanistan Men's cricket team on the rise, having reached the semi-finals at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, their highest achievement to date, the women's team, more eager than before, congratulated captain Rashid Khan, and wrote the letter to Barclay which reads:
"We, the formerly contracted players of the Afghanistan Women's team, are proud and excited by the achievements of Afghanistan at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and wish to congratulate Rashid Khan and his team on reaching the semi-finals.
"A profound sadness remains that we, as women, cannot represent our country like the male cricketers.
"Creating a team of Afghan refugees can give us a chance to play, coach and administer a cricket team without borders. The creation of this team will allow all Afghan women who want to represent their country come together under one banner.
"Our goals in having a refugee team are to develop and showcase our talent, give hope to the women remaining in Afghanistan, and to draw attention to the challenges the women of Afghanistan face.
Like the Afghanistan men’s team are afforded, we aim to compete at the highest levels. We want to recruit and train girls and women who love cricket, to show the world the talent of Afghan women and to demonstrate the great victories they can achieve if given a chance through the leadership and financial structure of the ICC.”
Light at the end of the tunnel
Cricket Australia, which has advocated women's education in Afghanistan on several occasions, is likely to take part in ICC's response to fulfil the request of the seventeen Afghani women cricketers. New Zealand Cricket is also eager to contribute to this cause.
Afghan national men's cricket team does not play its home matches inside the borders of their own nation due to security threats and the lack of international standard facilities.
Three of their home grounds are locate in India in Noida, Dehradun and Lucknow, largely funded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and supported by other cricket boards through ICC revenue distribution, amounting to around USD 17 million annually. In the meeting, as the reports of ESPN suggest, a percentage of the annual revenue given to ACB could be used to construct a women refugee team.
Now, for a cricket team to receive funding, they typically need recognition from a governing body like the Afghanistan Cricket Board in this case. Currently, the women cricketers who penned the letter to ICC chairman from Australia are not yet recognized by the ACB. Things are difficult at the moment, but not impossible.
So, as for the question, a dream crushed under taliban's rule rill re-emerge? The answer is, yes.
