‘I pray no one lives a life like mine’: Afghan women dream of freedom and cricket

Women’s rights have disappeared under the Taliban and more must be done to support athletes in exile

Sixteen-year-old Fawzia (a pseudonym) is writing to the Guardian from her home in Afghanistan. It is her home and also her prison. She doesn’t leave it much these days.

But she does have a bat, and a ball, and spends her days training with her four sisters in the small garden and the courtyard of her house. Sometimes, when the Taliban are in the street outside, they train in the basement, so no one can hear the sound of young women having fun.

“My only happiness is this,” she says, “and, my only hope and dream is to play international cricket. It doesn’t matter whether I play as a free player in a league or as part of the Afghanistan women’s team – my one true wish is to play on an international field. That brings me the greatest joy. But right now, there is no chance for me.

“We do not feel safe in Afghanistan because at any moment the Taliban might find us. I feel hopeless about the Afghan government and the cricket board, because no matter how much we try to find a way, there seems to be none.”

Since Afghanistan was handed back to the Taliban just over four years ago, women’s rights have disappeared. There is no cricket for girls – in fact no sport at all. There is no secondary school, no university, no dancing, almost no employment. Beauty parlours were shut last year, clandestine beauty parlours cracked down on this year. Women may no longer take a walk in a park alone, they cannot sing in public, or let their singing be heard through an open window. They cannot go to the gym. They may not train as a midwife or a doctor, but nor may they be treated by a man. They may not talk loudly, they may not take a taxi without an escort, they may not stand by a window and watch the forbidden streets go by.

They may not make eye contact with a man who is not a relative, they must cover themselves completely if they leave the house. Reports from the recent earthquake in Kunar and Nangarhar suggest some women have been left untreated by rescue workers because of the Taliban’s rule on contact between unrelated men and women. UN Women estimates that impediments to Afghan women receiving healthcare could increase maternal mortality by more than 50% by 2026.

“It is very difficult,” says Fawzia. “Girls in other countries have all their rights in education and sports, but we cannot do anything. Every day passes like this, and our lives remain the same.”

After the Taliban returned, members of the nascent Afghan cricket team were evacuated due to the astonishing efforts of Dr Catherine Ordway, Emma Staples and Mel Jones – who won the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket award in April for their work in bringing the young women and their families to Australia. Jones and Staples also set up Pitch Our Future, a charity that works to support the playing, mental and physical needs of the young refugees, and helped organise a T20 exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI in January at the behest of outgoing Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley. It was the first time that the young refugees had played together in a team since leaving Afghanistan.

And soon the women will tour again. They are due to fly to India for the Women’s World Cup, which starts at the end of this month, in order to watch some games and play some friendlies. A tick in the International Cricket Council’s box, after their positively snail-like efforts to the support the team in exile.

While the ICC have continued to support and fully fund the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) against their own constitution – part of the criteria for full membership is to have women’s team and pathway structures – they have been hesitant to support either an Afghan women’s team, which would “need” approval by the ACB, or a refugee team in exile. There was, at last, movement in April, when the ICC announced a taskforce to support displaced players, a dedicated fund and a high-performance programme offering advanced coaching.

Ordway says these measures are yet to be felt on the ground. “It’s the minimum they could possibly offer,” she says. “It’s taken far too long, and equates to far too little – so far. Compare the ICC’s efforts to Fifa, who have allocated 17 staff to support the Afghan women’s football team and conducted three training camps – it is not enough, but it is a start.

“Afghan women athletes inside Afghanistan want the world to know they exist, and for their voices to be heard. Those who have been forced to leave their country seek formal recognition, at very least to play as a displaced/refugee team. They are seeking support to train, have talent identification and selection camps involving Afghan women from around the world, and to play in real competitions – not just friendly matches. Imagine if the Afghan sport federations were obliged to hand over half their funding for their displaced women’s and girl’s teams.”

Back in Afghanistan, Fawzia talks about playing cricket at school as if she was an elderly woman looking back at her childhood. “It was a lot of fun back then. We had two teams, almost 74 people – half in one team and half in the other. At that time, we could play shots as we wanted and enjoyed a lot. But now, we can’t play free shots or talk loudly because the Taliban might hear us. I always pray that no one ever has to live a life like mine.”

Championship questions remain unanswered

With less than three weeks left of the season, English cricket has yet to settle its regular September mind-boggler of what to do with the schedule. The counties have decided to cut the number of T20 Blast games but are yet to work out what to do with its crowning glory – the County Championship.

After chewing over various options during the summer, the Professional Game Committee is putting one option up for the county chairs to vote on: a 13-game competition, with the 18 counties divided into a 12 strong, two-conference Division One and a six-team Division Two.

The Division One teams would play each team in their group twice, before splitting, with the top three teams in each group playing each other to decide the champion. The bottom three would battle to avoid relegation, while, crucially, the two top teams from Division Two will be promoted.

The reduction in the number of Championship games would be sweetened by the addition of a couple of One-Day Cup games. Whichever way the vote goes, the counties will be stuck with their decision until 2031.

The debate and uncertainty has stoked division among the Championship’s passionate fans. As the 14th anniversary of Lancashire’s last Championship title approaches, members held a vote of no-confidence in the chief executive, Daniel Gidney, on Monday, which he won 1,246 to 554. There are also votes/Special General Meetings due at Sussex, Nottinghamshire and Essex.

Those in favour of change are increasingly confident of getting their motion through – with only Surrey, Somerset, Middlesex and Yorkshire steadfast in favour of the 14-game status quo. Either way fans should know before the stumps are finally pulled on the season on 27 September.

Quote of the week

I still think it’s the best day of your career … In my opinion, no league in the world has a finals day like the Blast” – Ravi Bopara gives an old-school shout-out to the other English white-ball competition after leading Northants to Finals Day with 105 not out against Surrey in the quarter-final at the Oval.

Memory lane

England Under-19s line up for the camera during their 2010 World Cup campaign in New Zealand. Led by Azeem Rafiq, they won all three of their group games but lost in the quarters to West Indies and finished eighth out of 16 after a couple of playoff defeats. In the back row are the youthful faces of Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who hit an 88-ball 100 against India in the group stage.

Still want more?

Mark Wood will sit out the remainder of the summer as England take an ultra-cautious route with the fast bowler’s fitness.

Brendon McCullum has added to the Ashes hype, labelling the upcoming assignment as ‘the biggest series of all of our lives’.

England thrashed South Africa in the final ODI but their long-term 50-over record remains poor, writes Simon Burnton.

And here’s the report from that 342-run romp.

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