Everyone should be allowed to play the sport; no matter what gender you belong to. This also includes sexuality. Yet, this doesn't seem to be the case. The England board have recently decided to bar transgender people from participating from playing the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have banned transgender people from the top two tiers of women's cricket in England as well as the women's Hundred under it's new transgender participation policy.
The ECB's previous policy stated that a transgender woman could compete in female-only competition if they had written clearance from the cricket board. "The ECB has decided that from 2025 it will adopt the same approach as the ICC for women's professional domestic cricket," the ECB said in a statement.
"This provides consistency, given that a primary purpose of the top end of the domestic structure is to produce international players. The detailed policy will now be developed over the coming months, in consultation with stakeholders, and is due to be formally in place in time for the 2025 domestic season. It will apply to Tiers 1 and 2 of the new women's domestic structure from 2025, as well as The Hundred Women's competition."
In March, the United Kingdom's then-sports minister, Lucy Frazer, called on sporting bodies in the country to reassess their rules on transgender athletes competing in women's sports to ensure fairness.
"The ECB recognises that transgender participation is a complex area, with many strongly held views, and it is impossible to balance all the considerations," the governing body added.The ECB's rules don't apply to grass-roots cricket.
The ICC's decision followed similar rulings in recent years by the global chiefs of swimming, rugby union, cycling and athletics.
Transgender advocacy groups say excluding trans-athletes amounts to discrimination. Critics of transgender inclusion in women's sport say going through male puberty imbues athletes with a huge musculo-skeletal advantage that transition does not mitigate.
Seema Patel, an expert in discrimination in sport, said the ECB's decision was part of a trend towards the exclusion of transgender women from women's sports, "based upon notions of biological advantage, safety and fairness."
"There is inconsistency in the application of this approach and the effectiveness of a ban in the long-term is not yet clear," added Patel, an associate professor at Nottingham Law School.
"During the consultation processes adopted by governing bodies, there needs to be true engagement of a diverse range of views beyond the science community to determine rules....It is important to set regulatory boundaries but these need to be considered alongside a shifting environment where gender diversity is embedded within our society and identity is evolving."
"In prohibiting transgender women from playing in women’s professional domestic cricket, the ECB said it had consulted “relevant science and medical evidence” and considered “fairness, safety and inclusion"
However, the ECB confirmed tier three of the new domestic system set to launch next year, plus recreational cricket, will welcome individuals in the gender with which they identify. It comes with the caveat of an already established, ‘disparity policy’, which covers anyone with an appreciable strength, stamina and/or physique advantage that could cause a safety or fairness issue.
Transgender athletes have been banned from taking part in elite women’s competitions in other sports such as swimming, cycling, athletics, rugby league and rugby union.
Cricket Australia still allows transgender players to compete in the elite domestic women's game, if they have maintained testosterone levels of less than 10 nanograms per deciliter for 12 months before nominating for a team.
Last year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved new gender eligibility regulations whereby any male or female participant who has been through any form of male puberty will not be allowed participate in the international women's game.
The review was led by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee. "The new policy is based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women’s game, safety, fairness and inclusion, and this means any Male to Female participants who have been through any form of male puberty will not be eligible to participate in the international women’s game regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken," the ICC said in it's statement.
In recent years, some forms of gender affirming care for trans youth, like puberty blockers, have become more common. Many adult trans-women today did not have access to care that would delay or prevent the hormonal changes associated with puberty in their youth, and these women would thus be excluded from competition under the new guidelines.
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice, added that the priority of the ICC was to “protect the integrity” of international women’s cricket.
"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," said Allardice in the statement.
"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," added Allardice. Mainstream science doesn't support the claim of athletic advantage in trans-women over cisgender women.
A 2017 report in the journal Sports Medicine that reviewed several related studies found "no direct or consistent research" on trans people having an athletic advantage over their cis-gender peers, and critics say the bans add to the discrimination trans people face.
Debate in the scientific community about whether androgenic hormones like testosterone serve as useful markers of athletic advantage remains ongoing.The ICC statement confirmed that these changes only apply to international women’s cricket and that eligibility in domestic cricket will be decided by each individual member association.
Athlete Ally, a non profit LGBTQ+ athletic advocacy group, said it was "deeply concerned by International Cricket Council’s policy banning transgender women from competing in international competitions because it is motivated by politics, not by science or by true interest in centering athlete health and safety. At the most elite levels, policies to promote fairness have been in place for decades, with no issue."
The group added: "Policies like the ICC’s that ban transgender women are motivated by misinformation and fear. Leading voices for women’s sports, including The Women’s Sports Foundation, agree that protecting the integrity of women’s sports entails addressing unequal pay, rampant sexual abuse, and a lack of resources for women athletes and that targeting transgender athletes does nothing to address these issues.
"The sexism underlying these policies hurts all women, and we support the rights of all women to compete in women’s sports."
This ruling ended Danielle McGahey's career. In October 2022, McGahey was named in the Canadian squad for the 2022 Women's South American Cricket Championship in Brazil. Canada's matches at the tournament didn't have official Twenty20 International status. McGahey opened the batting for the Canadian XI and was named player of the match against Brazil after scoring 73 runs from 46 balls.
In August 2023, McGahey was named in Canada's squad for the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in Los Angeles; which formed part of the qualification process for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Her inclusion in the squad attracted international attention, as she would become the first transgender person to play official international cricket and because of this has become a headache for other sports as well. On 4 September 2023, McGahey made her Twenty20 International debut for Canada against Brazil .
A spokesperson from the ICC had confirmed that McGahey had been "deemed eligible to participate in international women's cricket on the basis that she satisfies the MTF transgender eligibility criteria". However, on 21 November 2023, the ICC banned transgender players from being able to play women's cricket. McGahey announced her international retirement.
As I stated above, I find this to be unacceptable. I support and back the playing regulations of transgender people set by Cricket Australia. The total exclusion is ridiculous. Everyone, regardless of sex or gender, are equal. People shouldn't be treated differently just because they chose an alternative way of life that was different from their birth and possible upbringing.