Afghanistan women's players soak up World Cup experience

Afghanistan's women cricketers in exile have been involved at a global event for the first time, albeit only as spectators.

A total of 17 formerly contracted Afghanistan women's players attended the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday to watch India face Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Women's ODI World Cup as part of a 12-day programme offered by the ICC with support from Cricket Australia (CA), the ECB and BCCI.

They have also undergone coaching at the VVS Laxman-led BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, met with players from some of the top teams competing at the World Cup and played some matches.

"Most of the players are now based in Australia," Mel Jones, part of the ICC's initiative, said on commentary during the match. "They've got a few players in Canada and the UK as well. They've been put through their paces.

"They're smiling at the moment. That might have been a few ice baths that they had to enjoy over the last couple of days as well. Fitness testing, match simulations, matches, wonderful coaching from the coaching staff at the Centre of Excellence. The ICC, the ECB, BCCI, Cricket Australia have come together to host this tour."

The players do not represent Afghanistan as they are not recognised by the ACB but many are playing in league structures in Australia, having fled their country after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Since then, women have been increasingly excluded from public life in Afghanistan, cannot attend university or secondary school and their voices cannot be heard in public. As such, the ACB is unable to ratify a women's team, despite contracting 25 players in 2020.

Not all those living in Australia have made the trip to India as some faced visa challenges but most of them played in an exhibition match between an Afghanistan XI and Cricket without Borders in Melbourne in January.

They had not received any official communication from the ICC between their exile four year ago and April this year, when the ICC announced a support package for Afghan female cricketers in exile. Funding for these players comes from the ICC, BCCI, ECB and CA and not from the ACB's disbursements and will include training camps and trips, such as this one.

By inviting them to a World Cup game, the initiative - firmed up at the ICC's annual conference in July - aims to give the players exposure and allow them to experience the atmosphere of a high-profile women's international. Their experience was enhanced by the presence of India, New Zealand, England and Australia at the CoE during the World Cup warm-ups and Sophie Devine, the New Zealand captain, presented them with a jade necklace.

"It's gorgeous," Jones said. "A jade necklace, that represents courage and determination and that's exactly what these women, these players, have shown after the last four years and going into the future as well.

"All going to plan that future mimics almost the Afghan men's cricket team, whereby they can go through these high-performance programmes, they can create a team that can then be in qualifiers for T20 Women's World Cups in the future."