ICC launches support plan to back banned Afghan women cricketers
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched a project with a dedicated task force to help Afghan women cricketers. This comes after the Taliban banned women’s sports in Afghanistan back in 2021.
This move aims to give these women a chance to keep playing cricket, even after losing the right to do so in their own country. The ICC will set up a support fund to offer direct help, including money for their basic needs, training, and travel.
ICC will also give players access to expert coaching, better gear, and training grounds to help them ‘reach their full potential’.
This project is backed by the ICC and three major cricket boards: the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Cricket Australia (CA). They are working together to give these women the full support they need.
ICC chair Jay Shah shared the good news in an Instagram post and noted that this initiative marks the ICC’s dedication to ‘cricket’s global growth and its power to inspire unity, resilience, and hope’.
Through this project, the ICC also answers past calls to do more for Afghan women in cricket. Twenty-one female cricketers recently found their place back in the game and played their exhibition game in Australia in January.
