'It's about all the girls in Afghanistan': Cricketers play for recognition

Members of Afghanistan's women's cricket team, who escaped the Taliban's takeover in 2021, are set to embark on a tour of England. This tour is framed as both a cricket series and an advocacy campaign, aiming to secure recognition for the team and, by extension, offer hope to women and girls still in Afghanistan.

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The ICC always said that women are equal to men. We have heard that a lot. If they recognise us, there will be a lot of hope and energy [for] other girls who [are] living inside of Afghanistan.

Benafsha Hashimi, a player based in Canberra, emphasized the team's core message: seeking recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC). "The ICC always said that women are equal to men. We have heard that a lot," Hashimi said. "If they recognise us, there will be a lot of hope and energy [for] other girls who [are] living inside of Afghanistan."

The team's efforts are hampered by the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan Cricket Board, which refuses to acknowledge their existence. This internal stance prevents the ICC from officially sanctioning the team to participate in its tournaments. The upcoming matches in England, scheduled to coincide with the T20 Women's World Cup and the ICC's annual conference, are strategically timed to maximize visibility and pressure the governing body.

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The ICC now have such a great opportunity to be courageous, put the politics aside and actually invest in and ignite these young women.

Team manager Emma Staples highlighted the "great opportunity" for the ICC to "be courageous, put the politics aside and actually invest in and ignite these young women." She suggested that establishing a refugee side, similar to other displaced athletes, could be a viable solution. Player Roya Samim echoed this sentiment, viewing the team as a "light" that the ICC can either extinguish or amplify, potentially offering a beacon of hope for girls in Afghanistan who face severe restrictions on their freedoms under Taliban rule.

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This [team] is a light, they can shut it down or they can make it brighter. This light could be for those girls [who] stayed in the dark back home in Afghanistan, those who don't have hope.