Afghanistan cricket team banned from playing in own country to take on Cambridge
The team is set to play a Cambridge University team today
Afghanistan's women's cricket team - who are banned from playing in their own country - are set to take on a Cambridge University side today.
The match - being hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) - comes as the team met the King at Clarence House this week.
Players also met Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer and Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy to Afghanistan, as part of their campaign for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to sanction the Taliban for banning women from playing sport.
Women playing sport in Afghanistan has been banned since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.
'We want to show women aren't afraid'
Wicketkeeper Ekil Latifi, 21, fled Afghanistan in 2021 and has not seen her family since.
“We want the ICC to allow us to play under the Afghanistan flag and name," she said.
“We’re not just representing ourselves and the team, but also Afghan women back in our country. We’re representing them and all the things they can’t do there.
“We want to show that women aren’t afraid to do anything they want to.”
The ban has meant Afghanistan's women’s cricket team have lived as refugees in Australia, Canada and the UK.
The ICC recognises Afghanistan’s men’s team, which plays other countries regularly, including at the cricket world cup.
But the women’s team is not officially recognised by the ICC and so cannot compete internationally, including at the T20 World Cup, which is currently taking place across England and Wales.
“It’s so sad because everyone should have the right to study and play cricket like every other country," all-rounder Shabnam Ahsan, 18, said.
“We deserve recognition as well, we will fight for it, and we will never stop until we get it.”
Solution needed, says ECB
Clare Connor, the deputy chief executive of the ECB, said the situation is "complex.
“The funding the ICC gives to Afghanistan is only for men’s cricket and under the current regime women cannot play sport, so this opportunity is very important because it’s a chance for them to play as a team.
“We do need to find a solution because they are resilient women who deserve the support of the cricket community."
Having heard about some of the journeys the women took to get out of Afghanistan, the King told the team he is “so glad you all managed to get to Australia”, which is where most of them live.
The women's team is also due to face a UK Armed Forces women's side on an undisclosed date.