ICC bans transgender players from women’s international cricket

Danielle McGahey, who became the first transgender player to feature in international cricket earlier this year, will no longer be able to participate in women’s international games following a key change to the ICC’s gender eligibility regulations.

Under the new rules, approved by the ICC board on Tuesday, any player who has transitioned from male to female and has been through any form of male puberty will not be allowed to participate in women’s international cricket, regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken.

McGahey, a 29-year-old batter, is originally from Australia but moved to Canada in 2020 and underwent a male-to-female medical transition in 2021. In September 2023, she appeared for Canada in the Women’s T20 Americas Qualifier, the pathway tournament to the 2024 T20 World Cup.

McGahey had fulfilled the gender eligibility criteria, which was in place then, for male-to-female transition to play international cricket. She has played six T20Is so far, scoring 118 runs at an average of 19.66 and a strike rate of 95.93.

The ICC finalised the new policy following a nine-month consultation process with the sport’s stakeholders. “It is based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women’s game, safety, fairness and inclusion,” the board stated in a release.

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice added: “Inclusivity is incredibly important to us as a sport, but our priority was to protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players.”

For now, the review, which was led by the ICC medical advisory committee chaired by Dr Peter Harcourt, relates to gender eligibility for international women’s cricket only.

“The gender eligibility at domestic level is a matter for each individual Member board, which may be impacted by local legislation,” the ICC said. “The regulations will be reviewed within two years.” (ESPNcricinfo)