Afghanistan women's cricket team will take the field in an exhibition match in Australia, but their cricketing plight remains in a stalemate.

Afghanistan's exiled women cricketers will be the first beneficiaries of a new refugee fund started by the Marylebone Cricket Club, the MCC said on Friday. Hundreds of athletes fled Afghanistan after the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021 and effected sweeping restrictions on women in the country.

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the MCC Foundation are proud to announce the establishment of the Global Refugee Cricket Fund, an ambitious initiative to expand the work being undertaken by the Foundation to support refugees worldwide.

The first match by the Afghan women’s cricket team is placing the Taliban under additional diplomatic pressure.

Firooza Amiri says she and her fellow exiles want to keep representing their country during and beyond their match against Cricket Without Borders in Melbourne

For Afghanistan's women cricketers, their first competitive match since escaping oppression in their home country represents a significant step in their sporting journey - although the path ahead may not be the one they envisaged before.