ICC Imposes Permanent Ban On Transgender Players In International Women’s Cricket

In a major development, on Tuesday, November 21, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the imposition of a permanent ban on transgender players in international women’s cricket.

The decision was finalized in a recent board meeting where some of the bold calls were taken by the governing body of cricket, with one of them being the ban on trans women from international women’s cricket. Also, the ICC had undertaken a nine-month consultation process with the stakeholders before reaching on the decision.

Recently, Danielle McGahey became the first transgender player in the history of international cricket to feature in a cricket game. The 29-year-old last represented Canada Women on September 11, 2023, against USA Women and that will be the last-ever international game played by the cricketer as McGahey will no longer be allowed to feature for Canada Women.

McGahey, who moved from Australia to Canada in 2020, had undergone a male-to-female medical transition in 2021. As the 29-year-old met the gender eligibility criteria, which was in place earlier for male-to-female transition to play international cricket, McGahey was allowed to play for Canada Women in Women’s T20 Americas Qualifier. However, with the new rule in place, McGahey has been banned from international women’s cricket.

ICC bans Transgender players for protection of the integrity of the women’s game

In an official statement, the ICC announced the change to the ICC’s gender eligibility regulations. As per the rules, any player, who transitioned from male to female and has been through any form of male puberty will not be allowed to feature in women’s international cricket, regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken.

“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 said in a release.

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

Also, the ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said that inclusivity is very important, but the priority remains the protection of the integrity of the sport. Allardice stated:

“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.”