Refugee Afghan cricketers to play match in Melbourne

Former Afghanistan women's players living in exile in Australia will finally have an opportunity to play together, with an exhibition match to be staged in Melbourne in January. 

An Afghanistan Women's XI will meet a Cricket Without Borders XI in a T20 match at the Junction Oval on January 30.

The game will coincide with the women's day-night Ashes Test at the MCG, which will be played from January 30-February 2, and will be part of the celebration of women's cricket and inclusion throughout that historic match, which celebrates the 90th anniversary of women's Tests.

There are 22 Afghanistan players, contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban regime seized control of the nation in September 2021, who have been based in Canberra and Melbourne since they fled to Australia. 

CA Chief Executive Nick Hockley said the match would highlight the skill and resilience of the Afghanistan players, and the efforts of those who have helped facilitate their inclusion in the community and the game in Australia. 

"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. 

"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."

The match has been organised in consultation with the Afghanistan women players and other stakeholders, including the Australian Government. 

The Afghanistan Cricket Board awarded 25 women's contracts in 2020, with a skills and fitness camp organised, but the players never had the opportunity to play an official international game before the Taliban takeover a year later.

After the Taliban regained power, 22 of the 25 contracted Afghanistan women's players fled to Australia.

Nine are based in Canberra, where the majority have joined local clubs, while they also train together weekly under the guidance of ACT Meteors player Chelsea Moscript. The players based in Melbourne also play locally. 

Earlier this year, they had expressed their desire to play together as an Afghanistan team to the International Cricket Council. 

After Afghanistan's men's team defeated Australia at this year's Men's T20 World Cup to book a historic semi-final berth, the women wrote to the ICC asking for assistance to form a refugee team.

"A profound sadness remains that we, as women, cannot represent our country like the male cricketers," they wrote to then-ICC chief Greg Barclay. 

"We are asking the ICC to assist us in setting up a refugee team in Australia. It could be administered by the East Asian Cricket office based at Cricket Australia. Through this team we aim to represent all Afghan women who dream of playing cricket but are unable to in Afghanistan."

Since the Taliban regained power, CA has postponed proposed bilateral series against Afghanistan on three occasions since 2021, citing the deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule.