Cricket Australia have made preparations for members of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team, who now reside in Australia, to play together after organising an exhibition match to be played in Melbourne early next year.

The news comes more than three years after the players fled the Taliban.

Competing under the name of the Afghanistan women’s XI, the team will play a Cricket Without Borders XI — assembled by the Cricket Without Borders charity — in a T20 match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on Thursday, January 30

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The exhibition match will coincide with day one of women’s the pink ball Ashes Test to be played at the MCG.

Ahead of the match, participating players (those based in Australia) will come together for a two-day training camp in Melbourne to practice and, for some, reconnect.

Some members of the team who fled Afghanistan following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 have been resettled in Canberra, making it difficult for the team to get together often.

The players have strived to play together while in Australia after being robbed of the chance to do so as contracted players for Afghanistan because of the Taliban’s takeover.

The announcement comes four months after players addressed a joint statement to International Cricket Council chair, Greg Barclay, pleading for assistance in setting up a refugee team in Australia.

“Through this team, we aim to represent all Afghan women who dream of playing cricket but are unable to in Afghanistan,” the statement read.

Cricket Australia believes the match will platform the skill and resilience of the Afghanistan players and honour the efforts of groups and individuals who have helped the team continue to play cricket in Australia.

“Many people across cricket and the community have come together to provide support for members of the Afghanistan women’s team since their relocation to Australia, and this match will be a celebration of that work,” CA boss Nick Hockley said in a statement.

“I’m delighted that their ambition to play together will be achieved in this exhibition match, which will be a wonderful addition to the many events around the day-night women’s Ashes Test.”

Several stakeholders, including the Australian Government, and cricket organisations, including Cricket Victoria and Cricket ACT, will be involved in putting on the match.

There is also an intention for the one-off game to grow into more fixtures for the Afghanistan players to play together.

Several attempts have previously been made by various groups to allow the Afghanistan players to compete, but these were repeatedly knocked back by the ICC’s requirement that only the governing body of cricket in Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Cricket Board, could organise the team.