The stop-start– or start-stop – story of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team has been sitting in the ICC’s to-do tray since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. It isn’t a straightforward issue, but no one can say that it has been at the top of the pile, with the governing body largely relying on procedure to explain its sloth-like movement.
A brief history: the Taliban’s takeover violently, and instantly, scrubbed out the development of the nascent women’s team – players had only been given contracts in November 2020 and were yet to play a competitive match. The players and their families faced immediate intimidation – with many going home and burning and hiding their equipment for fear of being discovered. They fled over the border to Pakistan and 22 of the 25 were given emergency Australian visas (with two others going to Canada and another to the UK).
