Latest news with #BenafshaHashimi
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'With this, we can hope' - Afghan cricketers play first match
Female cricketers from Afghanistan hope their first competitive match in Australia will "open doors for Afghan women for education, sport and future". An Afghanistan Women's XI played a 20-over exhibition match against Cricket Without Borders at Melbourne's Junction Oval on Thursday, before the Women's Ashes Test between Australia and England at the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground. More than 20 members of the Afghanistan national team have been in Australia since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, as female participation in sport in the country has effectively been outlawed. But they are now hoping to send a message of hope and positivity to their country. "We are going to represent millions of Afghan women who are in Afghanistan and denied their rights," player Firoza Amiri told Cricket Australia before the match. "It's very special for all of us to get back together after three years, leaving everything and losing everything back home in Afghanistan." In 2020, 25 players were given professional contracts by the Afghanistan Cricket Board but after the Taliban returned and they could no longer play or train safely, they had asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) for permission to play as a refugee team, but this was denied. For the exhibition match, the side could not play under the name of Afghanistan women because they are not recognised as a national team by the ICC and they had to wear a custom-made kit as opposed to the official logo. Benafsha Hashimi, one of the Afghan players, designed the logo which depicted a red tulip and a golden wattle - the national flowers of Australia and Afghanistan - entwined around a cricket ball. 'The ICC did nothing for us' - Afghan cricketer Amiri Knight wants ICC to help 'forgotten' Afghanistan There are two sets of players in Australia, based in Melbourne and Canberra, and the match saw them unite for the first time since their arrival. Many of the players did not speak English when they arrived but had to learn it to help them settle and apply for jobs. Player Nahida Sapan says that the players are always playing for more than just themselves. "We play for Afghanistan, it means a lot for Afghan women because with this, they can and we can hope," Sapan told Cricket Australia. "This match can open doors for Afghan women for education, sport and future. "We are building not just a team, we are building a movement for change and improvement." An ICC working group, set up after the Taliban takeover in 2021, has met with representatives of the Afghanistan government and is keen to use its position and the sport of cricket to influence change in the country. "The ICC remains closely engaged with the situation in Afghanistan and continues to collaborate with our members," it said in a statement. The governing body added it was their intention to "support the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan". Its stance is that the ACB is not in control of government policy and therefore players should not be punished for it. There have been calls for teams to boycott fixtures against Afghanistan men's team, who England are due to meet in next month's Champions Trophy. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi said England's players should use their "power" to "make a difference". However, captain Jos Buttler said "I don't think a boycott is the way to go about it". Get cricket news sent straight to your phone
The Guardian
29-01-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘We are making history': Afghanistan women's cricket team offer hope for future
Two groups of women are playing cricket matches in Melbourne on Thursday – with two very different dreams on the line. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia will go face to face with England with the prize of a 16-0 Ashes whitewash up for grabs. Only a few miles up the road, at Junction Oval, an Afghanistan XI are playing a 20-over match against a Cricket Without Borders Charity XI, their first match under the Afghanistan banner since the Taliban seized power in 2021 and they were forced to flee for their lives. For the Afghan women, there is no Ashes trophy at stake: instead, they are playing for the chance to salvage something from the ashes of the dream of representing their country at cricket, a dream they feared they had left behind when they fled their home nation more than three years ago. Benafsha Hashimi and Sofia Yosofazi are two of the women involved. 'I feel like we are making history,' Yosofazi said. 'It's the first step to represent Afghanistan, and have everyone know that Afghan women can play cricket.' 'We are opening the door to at least have a match that tells the world that we are here, and we have Afghan women who are interested in playing cricket,' Hashimi added. 'It's a really, really good feeling.' The pair are among a group of 25 who were honoured to receive the first ever professional contracts for women from the Afghanistan Cricket Board in 2020. But a year later the Taliban returned to power and immediately banned all women's sport. The dream quickly became a nightmare: the contracts placed them directly in the Taliban's firing line. The majority were able to escape to Australia, alongside their families. Many did not speak a word of English, but cricket has proved a universal language. Olivia Thornton, the chief executive of Cricket ACT, praised the support they have received. 'The way in which the Australian cricket community have wrapped their arms around these girls, and have used cricket as a vehicle to help them integrate, has been really wonderful,' she said. Half the women settled in Melbourne, and half in Canberra. Initially, given the need for privacy surrounding their escape, they had to play under the same pseudonym. 'There was an influx of Smiths in our cricket competitions,' Thornton recalled. Now, at last, the group are coming back together to play for the first time – complete with brand new cricket shirts designed by Hashimi, which bear a tulip on the front (the national flower of Afghanistan) and their real names on the back. The England captain, Heather Knight – who met the players at the MCG on Wednesday – labelled them 'inspirational'. 'The fact that they're playing as an Afghan team is really special,' she said. The match comes amid the ongoing row about whether England and South Africa should boycott their forthcoming men's Champions Trophy matches against Afghanistan. Amid a deteriorating situation for women in Afghanistan – women can no longer access education and are banned from speaking in public – a number of campaign groups have called for the boycott. However, the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Richard Gould, have both said the onus should be on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take collective action. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion The ICC has so far failed to penalise the Afghanistan Cricket Board, a stance in contravention of its own rules, which state that full members must have a women's team. They have also failed to engage with the women's team. Hashimi's message for it was clear. 'Please wake up. We are here. Support us. When I came here we kept sending them emails and letters, and they kept ignoring us, which is very disappointing. 'We are from Afghanistan, the country where women have always been seen lower and told they are nothing. Please don't do that with us.' Benafsha is due to start a degree in sport management later this year, while Yosofazi dreams of being a fashion designer. But both players also hope that this is just the start of their journeys representing Afghanistan on the cricket pitch – even if that does have to be done in exile. 'When the game finishes, we don't want it to end,' Hashimi said. 'We want to go further and have other matches in Australia. We're glad to have Cricket Australia with us – now we hope to get some support from ICC. 'We will try to be the best, to tell Afghan girls that they can do it,' she added. Whether or not those dreams can become a reality is now in the hands of the ICC.
