The ICC has banned transgender players born as men from playing international women’s cricket.

In a statement released on Tuesday morning, the governing body concluded that they had made the decision following a nine-month consultation process to protect the safety of female players.

The statement read: ‘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, which was led by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee chaired by Dr Peter Harcourt, relates solely to gender eligibility for international women’s cricket, whilst 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.’

Danielle McGahey (pictured) became the first transgender woman to play international women’s cricket earlier this year

ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice added: ‘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.’

The ICC’s previous player eligibility regulations that were released in 2018 before being amended three years later stated that trans women wishing to compete in international women’s cricket needed to demonstrate ‘the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L1 continuously for a period of at least 12 months, and that she is ready, willing and able to continue to keep it below that level for so long as she continues to compete.’

They were also required to ‘provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to the designated medical officer, that her gender identity is female.’

Canada’s Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to be named in an international women’s squad earlier this year.

McGahey, who was born in Australia before emigrating to Canada in 2020, socially transitioned to a woman in November 2020 and began medically transitioning in May 2021. 

The 29-year-old made her debut in a T20 international against Brazil in September.

However, under the ICC’s new regulations, she will no longer be able to compete in international women’s cricket. 

Cricket joins athletics, cycling, swimming and both rugby codes in banning transgender women from taking part in elite women’s competitions at international level. 

However, the ICC statement confirms domestic boards will be given the final say on player eligibility for their own competitions.