Afghanistan refugee women to feature in exhibition cricket match in Australia

The match will be facilitated by the Australian cricket community to help fulfill the ambition of the members of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team, who are now resident in Australia.

File image of Afghan women playing cricket. (Photo by Aref Karimi / AFP) | Photo Credit: AREF KARIMI

An Afghanistan Women’s XI will play an exhibition T20 match against Cricket Without Borders XI at the Junction Oval, Melbourne on January 30.

The match will be facilitated by the Australian cricket community to help fulfill the ambition of the members of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team, who are now resident in Australia.

This coincides with the start of the CommBank Women’s Ashes Day/Night Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and will be part of the celebration of women’s cricket and inclusion throughout that historic occasion.

Australia’s State and Territory Associations, Premier and Community Clubs and other groups and individuals have aided their resettlement and provided opportunities to continue to play cricket in Australia.

The match has been organised in consultation with the Afghanistan women players based in Australia who will participate in the match and other stakeholders, including the Australian Government.

“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,” Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive said.