Transgender players who have been through male puberty will not be able to play international women’s cricket under new gender eligibility regulations announced by the International Cricket Council.
In September, Canada’s Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to take part in an official international match when she featured in a Women’s T20 fixture against Brazil.
The 29-year-old opening batter went on to play all six of Canada’s matches during the Women’s T20 World Cup Americas region qualifiers event in Los Angeles, to add to national team appearances previously in fixtures which did not hold official ICC status.
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.
Under the ICC’s previous regulations, which were effective from October 2018 and amended in April 2021, McGahey had satisfied all of the eligibility criteria.
However, following an ICC board meeting, new gender regulations have been announced, which follow a nine-month consultation process with the sport’s stakeholders.
The ICC said 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 review, led by the ICC medical advisory committee and chaired by Dr Peter Harcourt, relates solely to gender eligibility for international women’s cricket.
Gender eligibility at domestic level is a matter for each individual member board, which the ICC notes “may be impacted by local legislation”. The regulations will be reviewed within two years.
ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said: “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.
“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.”
Lewis and King star in West Indies' T20I opener against Sri Lanka
Brandon King and Evin Lewis starred at the top of the order to help the West Indies to a five-wicket victory in the first match of their T20I series with Sri Lanka.
Despite strong showings from Kamindu Mendis (51) and Charith Asalanka (59), the West Indies' opening duo did the damage as King's 63 and Lewis' half-century paved the way for victory with five balls to spare.
Sri Lanka started poorly with the bat, losing Pathum Nissanka (11), Kusal Perera (six) and Kusal Mendis (19) inside the first eight overs of the encounter.
Mendis and Asalanka helped steady the ship, with their knocks helping the hosts to 179-7 from their 20 overs, aided by the brisk cameo from Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who struck 17 runs from 11 deliveries.
The tourists wasted no time in chasing their target, with King and Lewis doing the early damage with their incredible 107-run partnership before the duo fell to Mendis (1-14) and Matheesha Pathirana (2-27).
Despite losing three wickets in quick succession, the pressure never mounted on the Windies, with handy contributions from Rovman Powell (13) and Roston Chase (19) helping them on their way ahead of the second match on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Lewis makes special return
After a 723-day hiatus from the West Indies side, Lewis made his much-anticipated return to international cricket with a sensational half-century.
His knock included five fours and four sixes, ending the contest with a strike rate of 176.8, a total only bettered by his partner, King (190.9).
England 'realistic' about chances in Pakistan, says McCullum
Brendon McCullum says England are going into their three-match Test series against Pakistan with "realistic" expectations, and anticipates a tough test from their hosts.
England became the first side to achieve a 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan during their last tour in 2022.
And Pakistan have had no success on home soil in the last two years, with a 1-0 defeat by Australia in early 2022 setting off a 10-match winless run, with Bangladesh the latest to triumph against them.
England are without captain Ben Stokes though, as he was ruled out of the first Test after failing to recover from a hamstring tear in time.
Despite recent history suggesting England may just have an edge, McCullum is taking nothing for granted.
"We go in with high hopes," McCullum told BBC Sport. "There will be no excuses whatsoever if we don't get where we need to get.
"We're also realistic this is going to be a tough series, because Pakistan in their own conditions, as history would suggest, it's a tough ask."
McCullum also brushed off concerns he was worried about not having James Anderson, who has been acting as their fast-bowling consultant since his retirement, with them for the first day.
"Jimmy has been a great resource for us, but prior to that, we didn't have a pace-bowling coach as such," he added.
"In the world we live in, communication is easy. Jimmy is in constant communication with the guys. I don't think it's a big issue."
For Pakistan, Shan Masood has lost all five Tests since being appointed captain last November, including the 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh in August.
"There is a lot of hurt within the players," Masood said. "This year, 2024, has not been a good year for Pakistan cricket all over, and we like to see our fans happy.
"The answer is to be positive. We let the past go. We have tried to maintain consistency in selection. We haven't had any chopping and changing because we have lost a few games.
"We believe in this set of players and with Jason Gillespie we wanted to create a squad mentality. The players are being backed to turn things around."
The first Test between England and Pakistan begins on Monday in Multan.
Stokes to have scan on hamstring injury before Pakistan tour
Ben Stokes will have a scan on his hamstring injury next week with the England captain in a race to be fit for their first Test in Pakistan.
Stokes sustained the injury at the start of August and was subsequently absent from the series win over Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old revealed earlier this month he was being cautious with his recovery rather than risking further damage with a premature return.
As well as netting throughout his recovery, Stokes has also featured in this week's Celebrity Pro-Am at the PGA Championship in Wentworth.
Despite the issue, he has been named as captain of England's 17-man squad, which is due to depart on October 1 before beginning the three-match series six days later.
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