NEW DELHI: The Afghanistan women’s cricket team, consisting of refugees residing in Australia, is set to play a T20 match against Cricket Without Borders XI at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Thursday.
This will be their first outing on a cricket field since 2021.
The team members fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover and have been living in Canberra and Melbourne since their arrival in Australia.
The match will take place ahead of the opening day of the day-night Women’s Ashes Test between Australia and England at the MCG.
“I think this is a first step. I think it’s going to be such an exciting day on Thursday, and my hope is that promotes lots of conversations, that this becomes an annual thing and then ultimately, that this team were able to compete on the international stage as is their want,” said Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley during a press meet.
“I don’t think any of us can comprehend what they’ve been through moving to a new country in such difficult circumstances, not speaking the language.
“I’m just inspired by their resilience, their love for the game and hopefully this game just raises awareness, a real beacon of hope,” he added.
Nahida Sapan, one of the Afghan cricketers, described the moment as ‘historic’ but called for more support from the community.
“It’s really special for us, especially for Afghan women because this is a very historic moment for all Afghan women,” she said.
“We have a big hopes for this match, because this match can open doors for Afghan women, for education, sport and future. We don’t want this to be our first and last match. We want more matches. We want more support.”
In men’s cricket, Australia does not play Afghanistan in bilateral matches but continues to face them in ICC tournaments. The two teams are placed in the same group for next month’s Champions Trophy.