ICC considering setting aside part of Afghanistan’s revenue for women’s cricket

Earlier this year, a group of Afghanistan women's cricketers wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s chair, Greg Barclay, seeking help to set up a refugee team far away from home. This has set the conversation rolling, with the ICC now considering setting aside a part of Afghanistan men’s revenue to enable and fuel women’s cricket in the country. 

"We, the formerly contracted players of the Afghanistan women's team, are proud and excited by the achievements of Afghanistan at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and wish to congratulate Rashid Khan and his team on reaching the semi-finals," the letter said.

"A profound sadness remains that we, as women, cannot represent our country like the male cricketers. We are asking the ICC to assist us in setting up a refugee team in Australia. It could be administered by the East Asian Cricket office based at Cricket Australia."

"Through this team we aim to represent all Afghan women who dream of playing cricket but are unable to in Afghanistan."

Afghanistan’s inability to field a women’s team has been a topic for constant discussion over the last year, with Cricket Australia (CA) refusing to play a bilateral series against the Asian side because of that. 

According to ESPNCricinfo’s reports, a number of cricketing boards, including CA and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have put forth the suggestion to set aside a sum for women’s cricket in Afghanistan. However, there are equally opposing views from other boards, who are sympathetic towards ACB’s stance of not going against the Taliban government.

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