Just over two years ago, Firoza Amiri was an 18-year-old batter for the Afghanistan women’s cricket team, ready to take on the world if given the chance.
“I would like to say thanks to Australia and all the people who have helped us to live safely,” she says. “We believe that magic will happen one day and we will represent our country on an international ground in the world.”
To further illustrate her point, the slogan on one of Amiri’s messaging apps says: “Gonna take more than a human to stop me from where I am meant to be,” and includes a muscle-flexing arm, a cricket bat and ball, and a flag of Afghanistan.
Now, looking for their place in international competition, they are pleading with the International Cricket Council and the Afghanistan cricket authorities to give them a place to play, despite the Taliban’s ban on women in sport and education.
“It was a black day for me and all the girls of Afghanistan, the day our dreams were destroyed and all the efforts of many years of each of us were destroyed,” Amiri told the AP. “When Herat fell, we decided to go to Kabul and reach one of the foreign embassies. When we arrived in Kabul, we saw that Afghanistan had fallen completely to the Taliban and all the people were going to the airport to be able to leave the country, we did the same.”
Forced to flee with her family when the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Amiri and her family first traveled to Pakistan and then were evacuated to Australia. She still lives in Australia, along with most of her 25 teammates.
Now, looking for their place in international competitio
Unfortunately, she said, players on the national men’s team have “refused to stand with us.”
“Their only answer to us was that we are endangering our families by doing this,” Amiri said. “The Afghanistan Cricket Board has not done anything for the development of women’s cricket for years.”
With a second anniversary of the Taliban takeover just passed, Amiri can’t forget the turmoil.
