Cricketer Firooza Amiri says her team will "represent millions of women in Afghanistan who are denied their rights” when the side reunites after more than three years for an exhibition game in Australia on Thursday.

Afghanistan's female cricketers play an exhibition match at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, with the players hoping to "open doors" for women in the country.

An Afghanistan Women's XI will play a Cricket Without Borders XI in the match at Melbourne's Junction Oval. It will bring together 21 female players who were formerly contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) before the Taliban regime re-took control in August 2021.

Firooza Amiri says she and her fellow exiles want to keep representing their country during and beyond their match against Cricket Without Borders in Melbourne

The exiled Afghanistan womens cricket team is set to face Cricket Without Borders XI in Melbourne at the Junction Oval on January 30; Afghanistans coach has said the historic fixture is more important

For Afghanistan's women cricketers, their first competitive match since escaping oppression in their home country represents a significant step in their sporting journey - although the path ahead may not be the one they envisaged before.

A Twenty20 cricket contest featuring a women’s team made up of refugees from Afghanistan who now live in Australia may “only” be an exhibition game, but it could be the beginning of something much more.