Having fled their homeland due to the Taliban, players are again pleading for help from the ICC and beyond
The stop-start– or start-stop – story of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team has been sitting in the ICC’s to-do tray since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. It isn’t a straightforward issue, but no one can say that it has been at the top of the pile, with the governing body largely relying on procedure to explain its sloth-like movement.
A brief history: the Taliban’s takeover violently, and instantly, scrubbed out the development of the nascent women’s team – players had only been given contracts in November 2020 and were yet to play a competitive match. The players and their families faced immediate intimidation – with many going home and burning and hiding their equipment for fear of being discovered. They fled over the border to Pakistan and 22 of the 25 were given emergency Australian visas (with two others going to Canada and another to the UK).
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.”
Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/10/afghanistan-womens-cricket-future-again-rests-with-wrangling-of-men
Author : Tanya Aldred
Publish date : 2024-07-10 12:24:14
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.