Afghan refugee cricketers to play 1st match since fleeing Taliban

MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (Reuters): More than three years after fleeing Afghanistan as the Taliban swept to power, a women's team of refugee cricketers will play an exhibition match in Melbourne on Thursday, hoping it will be a first step on the path to full internationals.

Afghanistan is an established force in the men's game, having reached the semi-finals of last year's T20 World Cup co-hosted by the United States and West Indies.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue. But women's sport has been disbanded in the country since the Taliban takeover in August, 2021.

The ACB had 25 contracted women players in 2020 but most now live in Australia in exile, with others settled in Canada and Britain.

Developing women's cricket in Afghanistan was no picnic before the Taliban, with miniscule funding, security concerns and conservative attitudes holding back its development.