‘Blessed, honoured and proud’ Afghan female cricketers want more chances to play

An Afghanistan women’s XI will make history when the team plays in Melbourne on Thursday. Find out why cricket means more to them than just a sport.

Firoza Amiri and Nahida Sapan of the Afghanistan XI. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for Cricket Australia

Afghan refugee cricketer Sofia Yosofazi says she does not support a boycott of the nation’s men’s team, arguing that the national side’s participation on the global stage is a source of happiness for a beleaguered group of people.

Yosofazi, who fled to Canberra with her family in 2021 after the Taliban reasserted control in Afghanistan, will play for an Afghanistan women’s XI against a Cricket Without Borders XI on Thursday at Junction Oval.

A left-handed batter, Yosofazi, 27, says she is excited about the opportunity.

“It really means the world to me,” Yosofazi said.,

“Because I’m blessed, I’m honoured. I’m proud to play in this match, and I’m happy that I took that opportunity to play there because it’s the first time for the women’s Afghanistan team to play on international grounds (in) Australia or in Melbourne. So we are making history.”

Amiri and Sapan will play in an Afghanistan XI on Thursday in Melbourne. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for Cricket Australia

The Taliban’s oppressive treatment of women and girls has led to Australia ceasing to play Afghanistan in men’s bilateral cricket. Australia continues to meet Afghanistan at ICC global events however there have been calls in England and South Africa for their respective nations to opt out of playing against Afghanistan at the upcoming Champions Trophy, being held in Pakistan and the UAE and beginning next month.

But Yosofazi believes that the refusal of teams to play against Afghanistan does more harm than good, noting the recent efforts of superstar Rashid Khan to restore the rights of women in the country.

“Because they are a source of happiness right now and a source of charity to my people, they have several organisations to help the people,” Yosofazi said.

“(The men playing) doesn’t affect the women’s team.

“Politics and sport are different paths. By interacting sport into politics, we can’t get that result that we want. Sport is peace, gentle. It’s a source of happiness for my people. But politics is a different path. So I feel like by cutting the men’s team not gonna affect us.”

Yosofazi, who studies fashion design in Canberra, said she would like to return to her homeland one day.

“Yeah, why not? If the situation gets better, if I find out that there is a facilities for the women who can play cricket, who can educate themselves, because the circumstances back to Afghanistan right now is really bad, as we all know, the woman is not allowed to educate themselves, which is very basic living things.”

Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird last month defended CA’s position on Afghanistan in the face of criticism from outgoing ICC chair Greg Barclay.

Australia and Afghanistan’s mens teams do not meet in bilateral cricket. Picture: Randy Brooks / AFP

“We’re very proud of the position we’ve taken. We’re supporting the Afghan women’s cricket team and those members that are still here, and we’ll be doing that at the end of the summer,” Baird said.

“People have different views, of course, but we’re very comfortable with the position we’ve taken. There’s all types of lines you can draw. We’ve drawn a line, we’ve taken a position and we’re proudly standing up where we think we should. I think that event that’s going to come at the end of January is a celebration of women and what we’re seeing in the women’s game in this country. We remain proud of it.”

Politics aside, fellow Afghan team member Firoza Amiri said it was good to have the women’s squad together ahead of the game on Thursday.

“We are all feeling very proud and very happy and are going to represent millions of Afghanistan women,” she said.

“It is very special for all of us to get back together after three years after leaving everything and losing everything back home in Afghanistan.”

Teammate Nahida Sapan spoke about the support her squad had received to get back out and play cricket and promised to try and show their best in a bid to prove the squad deserved more opportunities.

“We don’t want this to be our first and last match, we want more matches,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Blessed, honoured and proud’ Afghan female cricketers want more chances to play