Afghanistan's Exiled Women Cricketers Seek ICC Recognition After FIFA Sets Precedent

Benafsha Hashimi’s calling is cricket. She was contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board when a women’s national side was in development, just before the return of the Taliban in 2021. She subsequently fled as an 18-year-old to Australia where most of her teammates also went, forming a team in exile. Hashimi was part of the Afghan Women XI that played their first game last year in Melbourne. While the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan continue to disappear, Hashimi and her teammates have defied the regime from abroad. The exiled cricketers were joyous last month, celebrating the transformative news for another set of Afghan athletes. At a council meeting in Canada, Fifa approved the return of the Afghanistan women’s football team to international competition. “Finally, one of the girls’ teams did it because both of us, football and cricket, have been fighting since we came to Australia,” says Hashimi. Like the cricketers, the footballers fled as the Taliban returned to power, with those in exile forming a refugee team last year. But full recognition was still lacking, the side playing under another title, Afghan Women United. What they needed was the amendment to Fifa’s governance regulations that finally took place in April: the displaced players no longer need the approval of the Afghanistan Football Federation. Like any other national side, they can plot routes to the World Cup and more. “For the last few years, we have played under many names as refugees – as ‘Afghan Women United’, and as guests of other clubs,” said the midfielder Nazia Ali. “But in our hearts, we were always the national team.” Hashimi awoke to the news with joy and wonder: what now for her team? They continue to wait for full recognition, for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to follow the precedent set by Fifa. “We were so happy [for the footballers], and then later on we made some [social media] videos to congratulate them and tell the ICC that Fifa and ICC, they both are the same as each other. When [Fifa] can do it, when they’re able to recognise a team, why can’t the ICC do that? We want to be recognised, we want to get our rights, we want to play like other teams do.” Afghan players have long expressed frustration with the ICC’s inaction and lack of engagement; meanwhile the Afghanistan Cricket Board retains full membership despite not operating a women’s team. There was some support last April when the ICC launched a dedicated fund for the players, granting them “advanced coaching, access to world-class facilities and personalised mentorship”, with assistance provided by the boards of England, India and Australia. This led to a trip to India during the Women’s World Cup last year, where the Afghan side played friendlies, received coaching and watched the opening game between the eventual champions, India, and Sri Lanka in Guwahati. “Watching your idols, it’s something different, you will be speechless or wordless,” Hashimi says of the experience, still awestruck from meeting Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues. “We were over the moon. I was like: ‘Oh my goodness, what’s happening,’ because usually we see them on TV or maybe sometimes in the stadium and they’re playing. But we didn’t imagine that we’re going to see them in real life.” The players will travel to England this summer for another tour and attend the Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s. In the England and Wales Cricket Board’s statement announcing the visit, they were referred as both the “Afghanistan Refugee Women’s Team” and “Afghan Refugee Women’s Team”. Yet while Hashimi and her teammates continue to train she expresses uncertainty over the future of their ICC support. “We are practising [more] consistently than before. But there is no idea what we will do when it finishes. After August I don’t think we have anything, we don’t have any answer yet on what we will do. Whenever we have had a meeting or asked them what’s the next step, they always say they have no idea.” The ICC has been approached for comment. She explains just what official recognition would mean to her. “It would be really great, honestly. I will achieve what I was fighting for since I was back home. Because Afghan girls who started playing, they weren’t just fighting against the ICC or the cricket board. You know, it took me nine, 10 years to get permission to play. “Whenever I was asking my mother, she was telling me: ‘Women just do home work, washing dishes, making babies, and taking care of babies. That’s it. Even if I let you study, that’s a big thing.’ I was really hopeless at that time. And then after that fight finished, we went to the cricket board and got our contracts. “When I signed it, I still couldn’t believe it, that I got a contract. My sister said: ‘You have been staring at this contract all day. What’s going on with you?’ I couldn’t believe it, honestly. “Then the Taliban came in.” Hashimi offers a pained laugh. “Look how unlucky I am.” Hashimi is working on her game, figuring out her own place within it. She’s a batter who bowled leg-spin before switching to pace, but her attention has turned to keeping wicket. She looks up to Nat Sciver-Brunt and Alyssa Healy among others, and wants to study sports management, science and psychology. Yet her focus at the moment is singular: “I want to be a cricketer.” Her dreams rest on the game’s power brokers.