On Thursday 30 January, the Afghan Women’s XI played an exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI.

It was a T20 game played on a sunny morning in front of a few hundred people, including Afghan refugees now living in Australia. And the Governor-General, Ms Sam Mostyn  AC.

The Afghan Women’s XI – comprising players who had fled the Taliban –  made 9/103. Every run was cheered, and the handful of boundaries were celebrated like centuries.

In reply, the Cricket Without Borders XI played within themselves to make sure the game stretched to the final of their 20 overs.

In its own quiet way, this game – played on the morning of the first day’s play of the Women’s Ashes Test at the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground – was historic, powerful and moving.

Find out more in this article in The Conversation.