“Also, they are not all playing in Dandenong, they are in different areas, different cities. Since we arrived here, they are feeling hopeless, they are thinking there’s not going to be a way they can play for Afghanistan.

“But when there is no Afghanistan team, they are not going to keep playing. They are thinking about going to other sports maybe, and they are working to send money back to their families in Afghanistan. I know Australia is my second home, but still I want to play for Afghanistan.”

Several attempts have previously been made by various groups to get the Afghanistan players together to compete, but repeatedly hit a roadblock – the International Cricket Council’s stipulation that only the Afghanistan Cricket Board could organise the team.

In July, the players released a collective statement crying out for support to be able to play together as a refugee XI.

“Like the Afghanistan men’s team are afforded, we aim to compete at the highest levels,” they wrote. “We want to recruit and train girls and women who love cricket, to show the world the talent of Afghan women and to demonstrate the great victories they can achieve if given a chance through the leadership and financial support of the ICC.”

Cricket had been provided a template by soccer. An Afghanistan women’s soccer team, convened and funded by A-League club Melbourne Victory, has been rising through the divisions of local competitions in Melbourne since the players also fled the Taliban in 2021.

“Our ultimate goal remains to get the team once again competing in FIFA competitions so that the girls can once again represent their country,” Melbourne Victory football manager John Didulica said. “If the team didn’t stay together through this period and show the unity and commitment that they have, it would almost be impossible to be pursuing this campaign.

“The team has enabled shows of unity every single week as well as keeping the players fit and motivated to continue as footballers when it may have been so much easier to walk away.

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“This visibility and this preparation means the team is ready to take the international stage and has a vehicle – a face – to show to FIFA to continue to fight for recognition. If the players had been separated and left to their own devices, it makes that step so much harder and more distant.”

Cricket Without Borders was established in 2011 to provide opportunities for female cricketers to play around the world. Past members of the program have included Alana King and Nicole Faltum.

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