Beyond borders: Afghan women take centre stage in Melbourne

For Benafsha Hashimi and other Afghan women living in exile in Australia, the chance to once again represent their country on the cricket field is a dream come true.

Afghanistan's women will play an exhibition T20 at Melbourne's Junction Oval on Thursday, January 30. The players, who were all contracted with the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban took control in 2021, play a team put together by Cricket Without Borders (CWOB), an organisation working to create more opportunities for women and girls in and through cricket around the world.

"It's really good that we're opening the door, at least have a match that tells all the world around that we are here and we have Afghan women who are really interested in playing cricket," Hashimi said.

Since its inception in 2011, CWOB has organised tours to Vanuatu, Fiji, Japan, Malaysia and Hong Kong, amongst others, working closely with the administration in these fledgling cricketing countries to develop the sport and the opportunities for women.

As these Afghan women look to send a reminder of their desire to play the sport, as well as a message of hope to their fellow countrywomen who have been stripped of basic human rights in their homeland, a CWOB XI serves as a fitting opponent for the friendly game that aims to give them the platform to do just that.

Clare Cannon, the founder of Cricket Without Borders, is excited to see the two groups of Afghanistan players in Australia – those based in Melbourne and Canberra – come together to play.

"The purpose of this game really, for me, is to celebrate the first step for these Afghan women on their journey in cricket to play together," Cannon told cricket.com.au.

"What we wanted is to have a team that is a good balance to play these young women.

"So we picked our best girls. We didn't necessarily pick our best cricketers. We picked our best girls, who understand what Cricket Without Borders stands for, who understand what a privilege it is to play these young women and who will represent our brand."

CWOB was born out of Cannon's frustration at the lack of opportunities for her twin daughters to experience a cricket tour the way her son had. She took matters in her own hands and, working with Ken Jacobs, former CEO of Cricket Victoria, organised a tour of England for Cricket Victoria Academy girls.

"I don't know what we were thinking. We did three weeks," Cannon said.

"One of our proudest achievements was we played at Eton College, the boys' school in the UK. We played Melbourne Grammar. Their older team was playing Eton and we played their younger team. And we absolutely hammered them.

"It was a great moment because the boys knew what was coming. But the coaches and the teachers didn't and it was a 'welcome to women's cricket and welcome to women's place in the world'."

While CWOB is a nonprofit with limited sponsorships where participants pay or raise funds to take part, the exposure they get on the tours helps them develop not just their cricketing skills but also their worldview and personality by interacting with different cultures.

"Normally what we do is we go to the Australian High Commission, and they host us," Cannon shared insights into what a CWOB tour looks like.

"What's fantastic is when we've gone to all these embassies pretty much every single High Commissioner has been a woman.

"It's a wonderful role modelling for these girls to see these women who are doing amazing things, representing our country overseas.

"We also go into schools. In Penang we went into a government school, not from a wealthy demographic. Some of the children were dressed in national costume because there's a lot of cultural diversity in Penang. Cricket Malaysia and Penang Cricket Association gave us a presentation and we spoke in front of the school. The school had to get a girls team together before we arrived, which was great. But these young girls see girls who play cricket and have travelled with cricket.

"But it's also great for our girls to see what a privilege it is to play cricket in our country, where there's a lot of support."

CWOB has also facilitated internships for the participants with the Japan Cricket Association (JCA) to help them develop skills in cricket outside of playing. Amongst those who have undertaken a placement with JCA is Alana King.

King, who has been on several tours with CWOB, including their first to England, and to Singapore, has since become an integral member of the Australian side, a journey that Cannon says the organisation has followed proudly.

Their involvement in the game against the Afghan women's side is fitting given their role in removing barriers to participation in cricket for women and Cannon is excited to have the opportunity.

"We are all about empowering young women," she said, listing the four 'pillars' that drive CWOB teams – be bold, make friends, have fun, and show sportsmanship.

"When you play teams in the Pacific, at the end of the game – win, lose, or draw – they sing to you. It is just such a wonderful experience.

"When we were in Singapore in 2012 it rained quite a bit. The Japanese didn't always speak a lot of English. The Thais didn't speak a lot of English. But we could all dance the Macarena, and we could all play cricket, which was an international language."

But the ties that link CWOB to the Afghan women go beyond the cause and the purpose.

Chelsea Moscript, who has been associated with CWOB since 2012, has been coaching the Canberra-based group of the Afghan players for nearly two years.

Moscript, who grew up in regional Victoria, and is now a contracted player with the ACT Meteors, has been on five CWOB tours, as a player and as a coach. She also undertook the internship with JCA and ended up working with them for two years.

The opportunity to coach the Afghan women came soon after joining the Meteors when she was approached by Cricket ACT CEO Olivia Thorton to take up the role that was essentially put in place to keep the group motivated when they had no certainty of playing together as a team.

"It was more just keeping that group together and giving them an opportunity once a week to be able to socialise together and get together and train," Moscript said.

"I've been doing that once a week for the last two years and then from there got given the opportunity to travel down to Melbourne and be a part of this match, which I think is such an exciting opportunity."

Although Moscript coached junior teams growing up in Gippsland, she did not think of it as a pathway, especially one that would take her overseas.

In her role in Japan, she worked across the board with the national teams, the junior program, the women's programs and social cricket, but it was seeing the kids enjoy themselves in the sport that made her feel a sense of accomplishment in what she was doing.

"Cricket in Japan isn't the biggest sport going around and it's still quite a novelty over there," Moscript said of what made her time in the country special. "I think it's certainly growing but just seeing the joy on people's faces when they hit the ball for the first time or they try and bowl with a straight arm when all they've seen over there is baseball pitching."

Moscript also credits her time in Japan for making it easier to work with Afghan women, especially in overcoming the language barrier.

"I think my learnings in Japan have very much helped shape the way that I coach these girls," Moscript said.

"Just little things like using a lot of body language, using really simple words."

Having learnt to speak Japanese while her time in the country, Moscript was also appreciative of how quickly the players picked up English.

Following the CWOB philosophy, Moscript has been using this opportunity to learn and grow herself as much as she helps the players she coaches.

"Hearing their stories and how much they've gone through and how much passion they have for the game really inspires me," she said.

"I feel really honoured to be involved.

"I'm just so excited to see them all run out onto the field together. I think that's something that they're all really looking forward to."