A firm deadline now exists. The ICC Board endorsed continued backing for the Development Pathway Programme at its Annual Conference in Edinburgh on July 13, giving the Afghan refugee women’s squad a defined route toward qualification events by 2030. The team still cannot play as Afghanistan, since the Afghanistan Cricket Board withdrew support after the Taliban’s 2021 return, so any push happens under a different name. A reconstituted taskforce, funded by the BCCI, ECB, Cricket Australia, and the Pitch Our Future campaign, now oversees how that route gets built.
Development Pathway Programme Gets Board Backing
The Board’s decision marks the first time the ICC has set a concrete timeline for the team’s qualification involvement, delivered through coaching, strength and conditioning support, and physiotherapy in players’ home locations, plus a phased rise in game time.
Training camps and tours continue, opposition chosen to build toward that target. Funding comes from the BCCI, ECB, Cricket Australia, and the Pitch Our Future campaign. The regional pathway remains unconfirmed, though East Asia-Pacific fits given most players are in Australia.
The programme traces to 2017, when the Afghanistan Cricket Board committed to a women’s team as a Full Membership condition, before Taliban rule ended those plans in August 2021. Afghanistan’s women never played an official international match. Most fled to Australia, with a handful in Canada and the United Kingdom, and their first match came against a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in January 2025.
A tour to India followed, coinciding with the Women’s ODI World Cup, and a second tour took the squad to England from June 22 through early July 2026 for T20 matches and high-performance training with MCC and the MCC Foundation. Players attended the T20 World Cup final at Lord’s on July 5. Relocation was earlier backed by It’s Game On, co-founded by Mel Jones, Emma Staples, and Dr Catherine Orway.
Afghan Refugee Women Cricket ICC Roadmap 2030
A reshaped taskforce is now steering that plan. Two new appointees joined at Edinburgh: Dr Ros Rivaz, an Independent Director on the Board, and Sarah Keane, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland since March 2026, the first female CEO of a Full Member nation, and a Chief Executives Committee member.
They join existing representatives from the BCCI, Cricket Australia, and the ECB, whose names remain undisclosed. The mandate is a sustainable pathway through coaching, competitive opportunities, and high-performance support, balancing exposure, representation, and rising standards.
| Taskforce Member | Organization | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Ros Rivaz | ICC | Independent Director, newly appointed July 2026 |
| Sarah Keane | Cricket Ireland / ICC Chief Executives Committee | CEO of Cricket Ireland, first female Full Member CEO, newly appointed July 2026 |
| Not named publicly | BCCI | Existing member since before July 2026 |
| Not named publicly | Cricket Australia | Existing member since before July 2026 |
| Not named publicly | England and Wales Cricket Board | Existing member since before July 2026 |
Squad Locations Across Three Countries
More than 20 players, the majority of the squad, have resettled in Australia since 2021 and play in local domestic competitions. Smaller groups are based in England and Canada, integrated into their own domestic cricket structures.
Every player receives coaching and physiotherapy support at home, plus playing opportunities within local systems. That geographic spread is why the eventual regional pathway assignment matters so much for the squad’s route ahead.
Precedent Set by Other Emerging Teams
Reaching a Women’s T20 World Cup runs through a defined structure of five regions covering 53 countries feeding a Global Qualifier. The 2026 Global Qualifier, staged in Nepal from January 18 to February 1, was a 10-team event where the top four earned final spots at the World Cup. Ireland qualified for a fifth time and Scotland for a second; Bangladesh went unbeaten, and Sobhana Mostary was named Player of the Tournament for 262 runs at 52.40.
A pilot of the Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy 2026 has been approved, blending five Full Members with five Associate Members chosen by ranking and prior qualification form. The 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup, a 12-team event hosted by Pakistan with India’s matches at a neutral venue, will award ten automatic spots plus two via a Global Qualifier underpinned by regional rounds. Regional allocations remain unsettled, and that gap is where the Afghan refugee women’s cricket ICC roadmap 2030 will eventually find its place.