{"id":809179,"date":"2026-07-19T00:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/809179\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T00:17:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:17:22","slug":"afghan-womens-refugee-cricket-team-celebrates-icc-funding-pathway-to-internationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/809179\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan women’s refugee cricket team celebrates ICC funding, pathway to internationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2021, Afghanistan cricketer Benafsha Hashimi’s life was under threat just for playing the sport she loves.<\/p>\n

The Taliban’s brutal regime had returned to power; women who played sport were being hunted down and murdered.<\/p>\n

Five years after fleeing their homeland Hashimi and the rest of the Afghan women’s team<\/a> have earned the respect of the international sporting community, secured their playing future, and met the King.<\/p>\n

“It was a magical day,” Hashimi said.<\/p>\n

“Who would believe the girl who was starving for days, [whose] family had nothing, no money, no power \u2026 today she’s meeting the King?”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The Afghan refugee women’s cricket team met King Charles in London in June this year. (Reuters: Yui Mok\/Pool)<\/p>\n

The royal audience came during the team’s recent playing tour of England, the latest victory during a hard-fought campaign for recognition that extends beyond the pitch.<\/p>\n

The team first wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC) appealing for help<\/a> in December 2022.<\/p>\n

“We want to show the world that even through war, insecurity, inequality and injustice the hopes [of] our team and representing our country remain alive,” they wrote.<\/p>\n

This week the ICC announced continued funding for the team alongside a promise to play in qualification events by 2030.<\/p>\n

‘We can represent our country’<\/p>\n

The announcement represents a massive victory for the team and a significant moment in the sport’s history.<\/p>\n

“When we hear about this news, we feel very emotional because we really did work hard for this day,” Canberra-based Afghan player Shafiqa Khan said.”We can represent our country, we can play together and we can show the world that Afghan women are talented, they [are] strong, they can follow their passion.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shafiqa Khan and Benafsha Hashimi settled in Australia, while their teammates live in Canada and the UK. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Cricket Australia is one of the members of a “special taskforce” that will oversee the players’ development.<\/p>\n

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are also members.<\/p>\n

The group will seek to “balance to the imperatives of exposure, representation and enhanced competitive standards for the women,” the ICC said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Pathway to compete in qualification events<\/p>\n

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said details of the “collaborative effort” to fund the team were still being worked on with the ICC.<\/p>\n

“Money needs to be ploughed in at the base of this program to ensure its longevity and success over a period of time,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Cricket<\/p>\n

Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg says details of how the team will be funded are still being worked out. (AAP: James Ross)<\/p>\n

“Ideally to 2030, even as far as 2032 to the Olympics in Brisbane.”<\/p>\n

This week’s announcement includes a promise for a “pathway” to compete in as yet unspecified ICC qualification events in the next five years.<\/p>\n

The T20 format will feature at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and there’s an expectation within the sport that this will extend to Brisbane in 2032.<\/p>\n

The team has been asking for recognition alongside their male counterparts; a cricket sensation with global stars like Rashid Khan on the roster.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Afghan refugee women’s cricket team at the renowned Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. (ABC News: Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Do you know more? Contact James Vyver on encrypted email<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please note end-to-end encryption is only possible with your own encrypted email system like Protonmail<\/a> account.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Team unrecognised back home<\/p>\n

The Taliban-controlled Afghanistan Cricket Board does not recognise the team, creating an administrative barrier for the ICC in the past.<\/p>\n

ECB Deputy CEO Clare Connor told the ABC the decision was an “excellent outcome” for the team.<\/p>\n

“The players first wrote a letter to ICC asking for leadership and a solution,” the former England captain said.<\/p>\n

“To be able to continue to play as a team in recognised pathway events, despite their displacement from Afghanistan \u2026 three and a half years on they finally have their answer.”Having never played a full match together and been displaced to Australia, Canada and the UK, the team struggled to be heard by the game’s administrators.<\/p>\n

\"Shafiqa<\/p>\n

Shafiqa Khan says the team worked hard to secure the recognition of the ICC. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Their first letter received no response, so they kept writing.<\/p>\n

Cricket itself would provide a turning point with an exhibition match in Melbourne at the start of last year drew international media attention.<\/p>\n

The tenacity and strength of the women combined with the power of their stories drew the admiration of the sporting world.<\/p>\n

“These women are nothing short of phenomenal,” Mr Greenberg said.<\/p>\n

“I see them as leaders, as incredible human beings who’ve been through some very difficult moments in their life, some that are very hard for people in our country to comprehend.<\/p>\n

“Some of the stories that I heard first-hand will stay with me forever.”Funding for more coaching<\/p>\n

In the months that followed the inaugural fixture, the ICC announced an ‘Afghanistan women’s cricket initiative’ to provide monetary support to the players and fund a high-performance sporting program.<\/p>\n

This new taskforce will oversee a continuation of that program, with Independent ICC director Dr Ros Rivaz and Cricket Ireland CEO Sarah Keane at the helm.<\/p>\n

\"Benafsha<\/p>\n

Benafsha Hashimi and her team have secured additional funding for a coaching and development program. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

The program will deliver “structured coaching, meaningful competitive opportunities and appropriate high-performance pathways,” Dr Rivas said in the ICC’s statement.<\/p>\n

“This programme reflects the ICC’s commitment to fostering opportunity through cricket \u2026 [it will be] delivered with purpose, integrity and long-term sustainability.”<\/p>\n

The team’s recent tour of England, plus training camps in Australia and India, were funded by the previous iteration of the elite pathways program.<\/p>\n

While the players are still waiting on details on how the program will work, bowler Shafiqa Khan said they were as determined as ever.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a long journey and with many challenges, but the most important point is that we didn’t give up,” she said<\/p>\n

“That’s why today we are here, and we play together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2021, Afghanistan cricketer Benafsha Hashimi’s life was under threat just for playing the sport she loves. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[2666,384113,20813,64,63,360142,2667,740,18587,7301,42859,2668,384114,85,84050,51752],"class_list":["post-809179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-act","tag-afghan-womens-refugee-cricket-team","tag-afghanistan","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benafsha-hashimi","tag-canberra","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-australia","tag-icc","tag-international-cricket-council","tag-local-stories","tag-shafiqa-khan","tag-sports","tag-taliban","tag-todd-greenberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}