CHENNAI: Danielle McGahey, who became the first transgender cricketer to play in an official international match two months ago, will not be able to represent Canada in women's internationals going forward under the latest gender eligibility regulations announced by the global cricketing body on Tuesday.
The ICC board has approved the new rules at the board meeting, according to which any player who has transitioned from male to female and has been through any form of male puberty will not be allowed to participate in women's international cricket, regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken. 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."
McGahey, who took part in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier in September, played six T20Is for Canada under the regulations that were existing at the time. The 29-year-old batter, who is originally from Australia before moving to Canada, socially transitioned to a woman in November 2020 and started medically transitioning in May 2021.
McGahey followed the ICC regulations that were in place at the time, according to which the trans women who wish to play international cricket must 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".
The eligibility conditions for male-to-female transgender players stated that she must provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to the Designated Medical Officer, that her gender identity is female; and she is ready, willing and able to continue to keep it below that level (5 nmol/L1) for so long as she continues to compete in the female category of competition.
According to an interview McGahey gave to the BBC, the 29-year-old did blood tests every month for over two years. "A lot of work with my doctor sending my medical information through to the ICC... they have a dedicated medical officer who looks over all of the information provided and determines whether or not I have provided enough for an expert panel to make a decision," McGahey was quoted saying to the BBC.
However, the new regulations adopted by the ICC mean not just McGahey, but any transgender cricketer, any form of male puberty will not be allowed to participate in women's international cricket. The ICC has left the decision to determine the gender eligibility at the domestic level to individual member boards. This decision comes after a series of other sports banning trans women from competing in the women's category. The list includes World Rugby, World Aquatics, World Athletics, Union Cycliste Internationale, and the International Chess Federation.
Bengaluru-based writer and trans activist Nadika Nadja, however, criticised the decision saying that it is not based on medical evidence that has been generated over the past 70 years of transgender medicine. "It very categorically says that when a person transitions from male to female their body undergoes the same biological changes that a woman undergoes also. In fact, there are lots of studies that say that trans women who are on hormones suffer severe loss of muscle definition, quality, strength, and fitness. The science is clearly saying that trans women who are undergoing hormone replacement therapy or other therapies have significantly lower testosterone levels than even women. The body goes through a lot, basically, it is like undergoing puberty as a woman. I cannot say it better than that," Nadika told this daily.
"Even otherwise, what are you signalling? It is basically saying that the sport is for those who are considered as men. It is basically saying, the ideal sportsperson is a man and everybody else is inferior. Even if they think that trans women are men, are they saying that women cannot play against men? This is the thing I wanted to say, are you implicitly saying they are not good enough." Nadika added.
Roberta Avery, Brazil captain, who took part in the same tournament that McGahey played in, did not want to comment on the decision as such but stated that the call appears to have been made by the ICC "in good faith with the benefit of the most recent scientific advice". However, she said that the timing of the decision is really unfortunate. "Danielle McGahey was allowed to play in the recent World Cup Qualifier on the basis of the rules that applied at the time. As a result, she was subjected to a lot of abuse from people who have never met her and who don’t understand the difficult journey she’s been on. She and her teammates also had a reasonable expectation that she would be allowed to play in future matches. So it’s unfortunate that this decision was made after the event, once Danielle’s hopes had been raised and after she’s already been exposed to a huge amount of scrutiny and abuse. That can’t be good for anyone’s mental health," Roberta told this daily through a statement.
"It would have been better if these new rules had been put in place by the ICC before the World Cup Qualifier and not as a reactionary response to Danielle’s participation and the resulting media furore. The ICC lifted the hopes of a whole community and it feels like those hopes have now been dashed," she added.
Among other decisions that were taken at the meeting are the upcoming men's U19 World Cup being moved to South Africa from Sri Lanka after the latter's suspension. However, the ICC has said that Sri Lanka can continue to compete internationally both in bilateral cricket and ICC events while their funding is controlled by the global body. The ICC has also equalised match day pay for ICC umpires across men’s and women’s cricket, ensuring there is one neutral umpire in every ICC Women’s Championship series from January 2024.
The Chief Executive Committee, meanwhile, has agreed to introduce a stop clock on a trial basis in men’s ODI and T20I cricket from December 2023 to April 2024 to regulate the amount of time taken between overs. If the bowling team is not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over, a 5-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings.