ICC Bans Transgender Players From International Women’s Cricket (Image:Instagram/Danielle Mcgahey)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on a historic decision banned transgender players from international women’s cricket. The conclusion was disclosed on Tuesday, which was taken after a nine-month consultation process with the stakeholders.
As stated by the new order, any cricketer who transformed from male to female will not be able to play in women’s international cricket, regardless of any surgery or treatment they had undergone for the gender transition. This will disqualify Canada’s Danielle Mcgahey, who became the first transgender cricketer recently.
According to the cricket council, the prohibition was to uphold and protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of the players. “It is based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women”s game, safety, fairness and inclusion”, said the board in an official statement.
A board meeting was held on Tuesday. The current decision follows similar rulings made by the global chiefs of swimming, rugby union, cycling, and athletics in the last couple of years. ICC said that, “the changes to the gender eligibility regulations resulted from an extensive consultation process and is founded in science and aligned with the core principles developed during the review”.
They admitted the importance of “inclusivity” in sport events but explained that the council’s priority lies on the protection of integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players. NDTV quoted a source explaining the reasons behind the move and said that the inclusion of cricket in 2028 Olympics was a cause. “Since cricket will be an Olympic sport, it has to be governed by the Olympic guidelines”.
The change came two months after Canada’s Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to take part in an official international match. She was featured in a Women”s T20 fixture against Brazil and will no longer be able to play international women’s games.
McGahey, an Australian by birth, moved to Canada in February 2020. She socially transitioned to living as a woman in November 2020 and commenced medically transitioning in May 2021, and was the leading run-scorer at the 2023 Women”s T20 National Championship, recording 237 runs from three innings and the only century of the tournament.
