‘We want to play like other teams’: Afghan women’s cricket dreams remain unchanged | Cricket

benafsha Hashimi’s calling is cricket. She was signed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board when a women’s national team was being developed, just before the return of the Taliban in 2021. She then fled to Australia as an 18-year-old, where most of her teammates also went, and formed a team in exile. Hashimi was part of the Afghan Women XI that played their first match in Melbourne last year. As the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan continue to disappear, Hashimi and her teammates have defied the regime from abroad.

Exiled cricketers rejoiced last month and celebrated the transformative news for a new crop of Afghan athletes. At a council meeting in Canada, FIFA approved the return of the Afghan women’s football team to international competition. “Eventually one of the girls teams did it because we, football and cricket, have both been fighting since we came to Australia,” Hashimi said.

Like the cricketers, the footballers fled when the Taliban returned to power, while those in exile formed a refugee team last year. But full recognition was still lacking, as the team played under a different title: Afghan Women United. What they needed was a change in FIFA’s governing rules, which finally happened in April: the displaced players no longer need the approval of the Afghan Football Federation. Like any other national team, they can chart routes to the World Cup and beyond. “In recent years we have played as refugees under many names – as ‘Afghan Women United’ and as guests of other clubs,” said midfielder Nazia Ali. “But in our hearts we were always the national team.”

Hashimi woke up happy to the news and wondered: what next for her team? They continue to wait for full recognition until the International Cricket Council (ICC) follows FIFA’s precedent. “We were so happy [for the footballers]and later we made some [social media] videos to congratulate them and tell the ICC that FIFA and ICC are both the same. When [Fifa] it is possible, if they can recognize a team, why can’t the ICC do that? We want to be recognized, we want to claim our rights, we want to play like other teams do.”

Afghan players have long expressed frustration with the ICC’s inaction and lack of involvement; Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Cricket Board retains full membership despite not fielding a women’s team. There was some support last April when the ICC launched a special fund for the players, providing them with “advanced coaching, access to world-class facilities and personal mentorship”, with help from the boards of England, India and Australia. This led to a trip to India during the Women’s World Cup last year, where the Afghanistan side played friendlies, received coaching and watched the opening match between eventual champions India and Sri Lanka in Guwahati.

“When you look at your idols, it’s something else. You’ll be speechless or wordless,” Hashimi says of the experience, still in awe of meeting Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues. “We were over the moon. I thought, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening,’ because usually we see them on TV or maybe sometimes in the stadium and they’re playing. But we didn’t think we’d 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 English and Wales Cricket Board statement announcing the visit, they were referred to as both the “Afghanistan Refugee Women’s Team” and the “Afghan Refugee Women’s Team”.

But as Hashimi and her teammates continue to train, she expresses uncertainty about the future of their ICC support. “We are practicing [more] consistently than before. But we have no idea yet what we’ll do when it’s done. After August, I don’t think we have anything yet, we don’t have an answer yet as to what we are going to do. Whenever we’ve had a meeting or asked them what the next step is, they always say they have no idea.” The ICC has been contacted for comment.

She explains what official recognition would mean to her. “It would be really great, honestly. I will achieve what I have been fighting for since I came back home. Because Afghan girls who started playing were not just fighting the ICC or the cricket board. You know, it took me nine to 10 years to get permission to play.”

“Every time I asked my mother, she told me, ‘Women just do homework, do the dishes, make babies and take care of babies. That’s it. Even if I let you study, that’s something very important.’ I was really hopeless then. And when that fight was over, we went to the cricket board and got our contracts.

“When I signed it, I still couldn’t believe I was getting a contract. My sister said, ‘You’ve been staring at this contract all day. What’s wrong with you?’ I honestly couldn’t believe it.

“Then the Taliban came in.” Hashimi lets out a pained laugh. “Look how unhappy I am.”

Hashimi is working on her game and finding her own place in it. She is a batsman who bowled leg-spin before switching to pace, but her attention is focused on keeping wicket. She looks up to the likes of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Alyssa Healy and wants to study sports management, science and psychology. Yet her focus at the moment is unique: “I want to be a cricketer.” Her dreams rest on the game’s power brokers.