Afghanistan refugee team’s future to be discussed at ICC conference

The future funding of the Afghanistan women’s refugee team will be one of the topics discussed at the International Cricket Council’s annual conference next month.

Last year, the cricket boards in England, Australia and India, plus the ICC, announced a joint programme to support the players who were exiled after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Having played their first competitive match in Melbourne in January 2025 and travelled to India during last year’s 50-over World Cup, the squad are touring England for a series of developmental T20 matches this summer, but that funding ends in August.

There is likely to be a discussion about cricket’s integration of refugees more broadly at the four-day ICC conference, which begins in Edinburgh on 8 July – three days after the Afghan team will attend the T20 World Cup final at Lord’s.