Funding for a team in exile - three years after they fled to Australia

Female cricketers who fled war-torn Afghanistan to escape the Taliban have finally received acknowledgment from the game’s governing body, with the ICC to set up a fund to assist the team currently in exile in Australia.

Cricket’s global bosses have announced funding support for the Afghanistan women’s team now exiled in Australia after they fled their homes three years ago to escape the Taliban regime.

The International Cricket Council will partner with the national bodies in Australia, India and England to deliver high performance programs aimed at keeping the players in the game.

Just months after the Afghanistan Cricket Board signed 25 female players to contracts in 2021, the Taliban returned to power in the war-torn nation having been ousted by the US two decades earlier.

Afghan cricketers Nahida Sapan, Nilab Stanikzai and Benafsha Hashimi at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Picture: Jonathan Ng

With a ban on women playing sport and members of the team receiving threats, 19 eventually escaped to Pakistan and on to Australia, while others headed to Canada and the UK.

The ICC has set up a task force “aimed at supporting displaced Afghan women cricketers … in their personal and professional development” and a dedicated fund to “ensure players have the resources they need to keep pursuing the game”.

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said: “I am delighted the ICC will provide strong support for Afghanistan women’s players including those now resident in Australia.

“We hope this will enable the Afghanistan women to achieve their goal of improving their cricket and playing at the highest possible level.”

Originally published as Funding for a team in exile - three years after they fled to Australia