ICC bans transgender players from women’s international cricket

After a significant modification to the ICC’s gender eligibility rules, Danielle McGahey—who made history earlier this year as the first transgender player to appear in an international cricket match—will no longer be permitted to play in women’s international matches.

No matter what kind of surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have had, players who have undergone male puberty and have transitioned from male to female will not be permitted to play women’s international cricket under the new regulations, which were approved by the ICC board on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old batter, McGahey, is originally from Australia. However, in 2020, he relocated to Canada, and in 2021, he underwent a medical transition from male to female. She participated for Canada in the Women’s T20 Americas Qualifier in September 2023, which served as a qualifying event for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

McGahey met the requirements set forth at the time for gender eligibility in order to play international cricket as a male who transitioned to a female. During her six T20I matches, she has amassed 118 runs at a 19.66 average and a 95.93 strike rate.

The sport’s stakeholders were consulted for nine months before the ICC finalized the new policy. “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 press release.

Geoff Allardice, CEO of the ICC, said: “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 the time being, only gender eligibility for international women’s cricket is the subject of the review, which was headed by the Dr. Peter Harcourt-chaired ICC medical advisory committee.

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“The gender eligibility at the domestic level is a matter for each individual member board, which may be impacted by local legislation,” the International Cricket Council stated. “The regulations will be reviewed within two years.”