Chasing a dream while escaping a nightmare

The summer of 2026 has been a landmark one for women’s cricket, with the Women’s T20 World Cup followed by a historic first women’s Test match at Lord’s.

Whilst the women’s game has made huge strides in recent years, one area of the world where this growth has been non-existent has been Afghanistan, following the Taliban’s ban on women’s sports.

However, an Afghan Refugee Women’s XI has been touring England over the past few weeks, allowing the country’s female cricketers to reunite and continue to raise awareness of the difficulties that women face back in their homeland.

“I think it was such a great experience, playing lots of different matches against different teams and getting the experience of how to play as a team,” says wicketkeeper-batter Ekil Latifi.

Latifi left Afghanistan for England and has not seen her family for five years, instead pursuing her dream of playing cricket.
She was reunited with her teammates in India, where they toured ahead of their trip to England for a series of T20 matches.

“I was away from them for nearly four years,” she says. “The first time that I was reunited with them, it was India. And then, for the first time after four years, I’ve seen my best friends and we’re playing cricket together.

“This UK tour was so good, because we played six matches and it just makes so much difference from playing with clubs, because we speak the same language and we have got the same passion.

“We want to play for our country. For me, it was so special.”

Alongside her teammates, Latifi recognises the responsibilities that they have through cricket to advocate for women facing oppression in Afghanistan.

“For me, it’s not about just sport,” she tells The Cricket Paper. “I want to represent all women back in our country that haven’t got the opportunities to do education, play sports, have the freedom for whatever they want to do in their lives.

“So, I definitely want to represent the women from Afghanistan and it’s my responsibility as a sports person to be a voice for them.”

In addition to playing matches, the Afghan Refugee Women’s XI met King Charles III and attended the Women’s T20 World Cup Final at Lord’s, where Australia defeated England by seven wickets.

“It was a very good experience, because we want to play cricket professionally,” says Latifi. “Lots of people were around us and lots of support. People wanted to talk with us and it was such a big crowd, so it was a really good experience.”

Although the current landscape for women’s sport in Afghanistan is very bleak, the match at Lord’s provided a glimmer of hope for what is possible in the future.

“I would love to play for Afghanistan’s women’s team,” says Latifi. “In front of such a big crowd, representing my own country and representing the women’s team.”

The final also showcased how far women’s sport has come in many parts of the world.

“Cricket is kind of like all sports from my point of view. In all sports, women were not playing before in past years and now it’s kind of like a big thing for women playing sports and they’ve got lots of support.

“People want to watch them and celebrate their wins, which is great. It just kind of motivates you to play more sports.”

As well as playing for Bexley, the MCC, the National Asian Cricket Council and Kent, Latifi is an ambassador for Maiden Cricket, a sportswear brand that designs purpose-built clothing and equipment for female cricketers. Maiden have supported the Afghan side’s tour, through providing them with equipment.

“They want to make batting pads and gloves in the size of women, so women can feel comfortable and play their game,” says Latifi. “ They understand the situation, like what kind of challenges women face, so they just want to help.

“It’s an inspiration to represent Maiden, because they just give more opportunities for women to get into sport, not just cricket. Other organisations can invest in women’s sport.”

Although the Afghan Women’s Refugee XI have been given the opportunity to play, Latifi hopes that one day they can officially play under the flag of Afghanistan.

“We just want to play cricket and we just want to be the same like other women’s teams, like be ourselves and represent all women, make the difference.

“For the future, I just want to play cricket for my country. So this is my dream, to play one day in the future a professional cricket match for my country.”

Once the tour is over, Latifi will remain in England, whilst many of her teammates will return to Australia. However, their desire to one day represent their country on the global stage will remain united.