The Afghan women’s cricket team, currently based in exile in Australia, will begin their first international tour in the United Kingdom this week, marking a significant yet bittersweet milestone. The team, however, will not compete under the name Afghanistan Women, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not recognise them as a national side. Instead, they will participate as the Afghan Refugee Women’s team.

Their presence on the field carries a deeper significance beyond sport. The team members, who fled the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan nearly five years ago, use their platform to draw international attention to the deteriorating conditions faced by women in their homeland. Since the Taliban takeover, Afghan girls have been banned from secondary education and sports, while women are subjected to strict dress codes and prohibited from working or traveling without a male guardian. The humanitarian crisis has intensified, with reports of families resorting to child marriage to secure food and rising incidents of maternal suicide.

Firooza Afghan, 21, one of the 15 players travelling to the UK, described their mission as representing Afghan women left behind. “We’re not playing for ourselves but for all Afghan women in our country where the situation is getting worse and worse day by day,” she said. “They too deserve to be free and choose their own path in life and we want to remind a world that seems to have forgotten.”

Firooza’s journey to this point has been fraught with danger. Selected for the national team in January 2021, just months before the Taliban regained control, she and her teammates were forced into hiding, destroying their cricket equipment and certificates to avoid detection. Attempts to flee the country were perilous; Firooza recounted trying five times to reach Kabul airport amid Taliban gunfire and large crowds blocking access.

Recognising the team’s vulnerable situation, three Australian women involved in the cricket community—Mel Jones, a former Australian player and broadcaster; Dr. Catherine Ordway, a sports lawyer; and Emma Staples, previously with Cricket Victoria—initiated efforts to secure humanitarian visas for the players, their staff, and families. Jones noted the urgency after learning the Taliban maintained lists of women involved in sports and were conducting door-to-door searches. The operation eventually helped 134 women, none of whom initially held passports, to escape.

Firooza’s own escape involved a clandestine crossing into Pakistan, evading 11 Taliban checkpoints with the help of her family. She described this as her 15th attempt to leave after numerous failed efforts.

Her passion for cricket began in her hometown of Herat, where she grew up with her single mother supporting five children. She only encountered the sport in 2015 when the men's national team participated in the Cricket World Cup, sparking her desire to play. Lacking female cricket infrastructure, she and a friend persuaded their school to form a girls’ team, often training without proper equipment or facilities. Their perseverance led to a championship victory and, ultimately, Firooza’s selection as the youngest member of the newly formed Afghan Women’s Cricket Team in 2021.

Despite the team’s displacement and ongoing challenges, Firooza remains resolute. “When I called my mum to tell her ‘I did it,’ she told me ‘I always believed in you. One day you will be the greatest cricketer in the world.’ But then the Taliban came and destroyed everything,” she said. Now, as the Afghan Refugee Women’s team takes the field in London, they carry not only their own dreams but also the hopes of countless Afghan women denied their freedom.