00:00yeah I mean I grew up in Herat which is western part of Afghanistan and it's it's a city mostly
00:12very rich in culture and art architecture it's not very famous in terms of cricket especially
00:20for women's but I was introduced to cricket by my sister my older sister who's like currently
00:27playing as well so for the beginning I started her way out of curiosity but by the time it it became
00:35my passion since I hold the bat it became my passion and for me I don't know since I stopped
00:43playing cricket it wasn't just about playing because I know that we don't have an Afghan
00:48Afghanistan women's cricket team it was something that I really wanted to be one of the first girls
00:55who will represent Afghanistan and yeah I know I knew that I will be one of the girls who will
01:04change the narrative yeah it's very heartbreaking and and since Taliban took over I knew that what
01:16is going to happen and what's the situation going to be for me as a woman or as an athlete
01:20um I need a situation it's it's going to be very worse for us and it was very painful to walk away
01:27from everything that I walked out um for many years for but um I also felt anger and determination that
01:36um to do not give up even the situation that Taliban were there and I even though if it's gonna be um
01:43about to start and over in a new country I did that I mean the philosophy of Taliban goes against
01:56everything that I believe in um while as you say the world is uh moving forward and empowering
02:03and women's to lead and success um they want to keep they want to control um women's in Afghanistan and I
02:11strongly believe that every society um needs women's in leadership roles and Afghan women's are
02:18incredibly strong and and I have no doubt that they can lead if they have the opportunity not just on
02:26a sport in every field and we have already like seen that if the chance give in they can rise
02:33I mean there was in the beginning when Taliban took over there was some revolt but if the people are
02:45like I I'm not actually in touch with many but I know some of the girls are still playing and they're
02:51still practicing in private um quietly holding their passion but it's something very risky and under the
03:00Taliban regime it's something that very risky and dangerous
03:09um if I could describe Mel Mel is such an amazing personality she has and I would say she is a true
03:18woman's right advocate in a sport and she was one of the few amazing women who helped us um when we needed
03:25the most um Mel has used her platform her voice and her connection to bring the attention to other
03:32situation that we had in Afghanistan and she dedicated so much times and effort um to supporting us from
03:40helping us to escape from Afghanistan to settling in Australia um my journey and all the girls journey were
03:50was filled with fear and uncertainty but knowing someone like Mills and Mel and other amazing women who
03:57have been in Australia and helping us make gave us the strength and hope um to start completely in a new
04:03country like Australia yeah the match um the match that we did on 30 of January was more than just a game
04:16was more than just cricket for us it was our first official game in Australia and our for many of us it was
04:25first match that we could play freely after years um if I talk about the crowd they were so supportive
04:34and it felt like home since I came to Australia I know that Australia has gave me everything um to make
04:41sure that I am feeling as my second home but when we step onto the ground on the January it was completely
04:49like I felt home um and like for many of us cricket ground and we always say that cricket ground is is
04:56home um and the moment we step onto the pitch we were reminded that we were still cricketers after three
05:03years playing and um I would say we were not only victim or refugee in Australia we were players and we
05:12were still able to represent Afghanistan even from far away in a country like Australia and that was
05:20everything like we were so happy and um we were so happy that we are representing millions of women into that ground
05:27so cricket Australia has played a huge um leadership uh role for us um from the moment that we are
05:41we left Afghanistan and we start our new life in Australia they gave us every opportunity that we
05:46needed um to keep playing and rebuilding our new life and here in Australia and we never forget that
05:53Cricket Australia was the first board that we speak out for us and um Cricket Australia has been the um
06:02first board that they cancelled their match against Afghanistan um and show the world what it means
06:09to stand for equality and speak for the um women's in a sport
06:14all right unfortunately I'm not in touch with any of the players um no I'm not in touch directly with
06:25the players but from what I've heard that is um they cannot speak direct um sorry sorry publicly um
06:33mainly for their own and their family safety uh but I believe many of them know what is happening for
06:39the Afghan women's strong yeah absolutely I think they have the platform and the audience um even one
06:50strong statement from them can make a global impact and I've realized that um I've realized that influence
07:00and decided to use it um not just for us but for many Afghan for the future of Afghan um sport
07:09yeah I mean it was very emotional to see him saying um his retirement from this format um it's it feels
07:21like the end of an era um but mostly um I'm so grateful that I've been in a generation that had the
07:29opportunity to watch him and learn so many things from him
07:39yeah um for me like there are there are many strong moments and there are women who change the history
07:47of cricket um in every country in every cricket like in every country we have a woman who changed the
07:54history um but for me I think Alice Perry has played like Alice Perry has always inspired me um her like her
08:03discipline and calm and the pressure it's something I really admire and she's not just a great um
08:10just great player she's a great she has a great personality and great um role model um on and off the field
08:18yeah I mean we have only just heard about the ICC funding and waiting for more details so we can
08:29can't comment fully on that um but we are very grateful that ICC has acknowledged our journey and
08:36format a task force and we hope it includes the voice from our groups um our goal is to keep improving
08:45and play for Afghanistan and um play in the highest level as we can and and with the continued support
08:53from the ICC, Peach Our Future and Australian cricket community and we believe it that's possible and
09:00representing Afghan women through cricket is something we value
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