Cricket’s governing body is under fire from Afghan women after being banned from playing by the Taliban, while men have continued competing.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been accused of making “unfair decisions” following the deterioration of women’s rights under Afghanistan’s hardline rulers.
Now political pressure has been growing, including from more than 160 MPs and peers, for the England men’s cricket team to boycott their upcoming Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month.
A total of 25 female players, who were selected to train in 2020 with the plan that they would eventually represent Afghanistan before the Taliban took over in 2021, are living in exile in Australia.
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Firooza Amiri is one of those players now based in Melbourne.
While she escaped with her parents and siblings to a new life, her extended family remain at home and she believes now more than ever a female cricket team representing Afghanistan would give women of the country some hope.
“It is heartbreaking for me. I have all my freedoms, they can’t have their basic rights. I have an aunt who dreamed of being a teacher her whole life and she got a contract with a school in 2020 and in 2021 the Taliban took power. After they took over, she got a very deep depression and every time I talk to her she is always crying.
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“Girls are growing up without education, they are forced to get married at 14. These things are heartbreaking for me. Women are living in a very horrible situation. Afghanistan went back to a very past time. All the countries are improving and celebrating equality but in Afghanistan there is not something like equality.”
When the players fled they had yet to play an international match.
Women’s cricket in the country was just beginning, now it has been snuffed out completely, even though the ICC rules state that women’s cricket must be supported by member nations.
Amiri doesn’t think that a boycott of a match or a complete boycott of the Afghanistan men’s team is the way forward, but is in no doubt the ICC has not gone into bat for the Afghan women’s team.
“At the end of the day all of the decisions come from the ICC and it’s been unfair decisions from the ICC for us. We sent a letter to the ICC, they never respond to us. They make excuses, they always say having a women’s Afghanistan team is complicated. It is not complicated, it’s as simple as ‘we want to have a team’ – it’s very easy.
“The ICC must stop making unfair decisions and turn their face to the women of Afghanistan. We are here, we just dream to play cricket for our country.”
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As far as the ICC is concerned the matter isn’t closed, but it’s hard to see how it can be resolved in the near future.
An ICC spokesperson statement said: “The ICC remains closely engaged with the situation in Afghanistan and continues to collaborate with our members. We are committed to leveraging our influence constructively to support the ACB [Afghanistan Cricket Board] in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan.
“The ICC has established the Afghanistan Cricket Task Force, chaired by deputy chairman Mr Imran Khwaja, who will lead the ongoing dialogue on this matter.”
We asked to speak to Mr Khwaja to get an update but so far the ICC has not come back with a response.
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The response from Amiri though is openly critical. “The ICC as an international council has never reached out to us. We are national players. They’ve never been to help. I think in general the ICC only focus on the men’s team… it doesn’t matter which country. The ICC is always talking about equality but there is no equality that the ICC should celebrate.”
But she does not want the Afghanistan men’s team, who are ranked 8th in the world for One Day Internationals, to be banned.
“They tried so hard to get where they are today,” she said, adding that they also “had the support of the ICC” to achieve that.
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The Afghanistan female players would like to play as a refugee team, but even this has been refused for now.
Amiri said: “We just want to represent Afghanistan as long as we are on the ground, on the field. Every time we play we are not just playing for ourselves but millions of girls who are still in Afghanistan.
“We just want to make sure Afghanistan women do not feel forgotten.”
