Roya Samim
Personal information
BornAfghanistan
RoleOpening batter
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2022–Fredericton

Roya Samim is an Afghan women's cricketer, who currently plays for Canadian club cricket team Fredericton. She was expected to play for the Afghanistan women's national cricket team before the team was dissolved following the 2021 Taliban offensive.

Career

Samim is an opening batter.[1] In 2019, she started campaigning for an Afghan professional women's team.[2] In December 2020, the Afghanistan women's national cricket team was recreated by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), and Samim was one of 25 Afghan women given a contract to play.[3] She trained for eight hours a day with the other contracted players in Kabul. The team never played an official match,[1] as their first scheduled match against Oman was cancelled.[4] The team's captain was never announced, but Samim was a candidate for the role.[5]

After the 2021 Taliban offensive started, Samim travelled to Canada, with her two sisters. They left Afghanistan two days before the Taliban took control of Kabul,[1][4] and one of Samim's brothers also joined them in Canada.[2] Once in Canada, Samim tried contacting the International Cricket Council (ICC) and ACB about getting her teammates out of Afghanistan, but received no response.[4] She has been supportive of the ICC's decision not to ban the Afghanistan men's team, despite calls to do so.[1]

In 2022, Samim was featured in an esports match for Afghanistan. The esports series was setup as a protest against the Afghan women's team being unable to compete.[2][5] Samim started playing for Fredericton Cricket Club in June 2022,[1] and also worked with Cricket New Brunswick to form a women's provincial team.[6]

Personal life

Aside from cricket, Samim worked as a mathematics teacher in Afghanistan.[4] As of 2021, she planned to study for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Canada,[4] and as of 2022, she worked as a settlement worker, helping other refugees.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Afghan women's cricketers aiming to 'show the world we exist, despite the Taliban'". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Away in Canada, Roya Samim keeps a candle lit for women's cricket in Afghanistan". ESPNcricinfo. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Women cricketers defy threats to play for Afghanistan". Thomas Reuters Foundation News. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Afghanistan women's cricketers left feeling abandoned by authorities". The Guardian. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b "GLOBAL ESPORTS RECREATES THE CRICKET WORLD CUP FINALS VIRTUALLY WITH ISOBAR INDIA FOR THE BANNED AFGHANISTAN WOMEN'S CRICKET TEAM". Campaign Brief Asia. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Afghan woman starts life — and cricket career — over in Fredericton". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
Categories