ECB bans transgender women from taking part in women’s and girl’s cricket

Transgender women will no longer be able to play in competitive women’s and girl’s cricket in England and Wales after a change of policy from the sport’s governing body.

Trans women have been banned from the top two tiers of elite women’s cricket since the start of this year, but had been permitted to compete in the women’s game up to and including tier three of the domestic game and throughout recreational cricket.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has now extended its policy in light of a UK Supreme Court ruling handed down last month. The change was officially approved at a board meeting on Friday.

The ECB said in a statement: “With immediate effect, only those whose biological sex is female will be eligible to play in women’s cricket and girls’ cricket matches. Transgender women and girls can continue playing in open and mixed cricket.”

The English and Scottish football associations announced new policies banning trans women from female competition on Thursday.

On April 16 the UK Supreme Court issued clarification regarding terms used in the 2010 Equality Act. Within that clarification, it said that Section 195 of the Act, which permits the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on sex, was “plainly predicated on biological sex”.

Pool was the first UK sport to change policy following the ruling. England Netball announced a new policy on Thursday but has stressed those changes had nothing to do with the Supreme Court ruling.

The ECB added in its statement: “Our regulations for recreational cricket have always aimed at ensuring that cricket remains as inclusive a sport as possible.

“These included measures to manage disparities, irrespective of someone’s gender, and safeguard the enjoyment of all players. However, given the new advice received about the impact of the Supreme Court ruling, we believe the changes announced today are necessary.

“We acknowledge that this decision will have a significant impact on transgender women and girls. We will work with Recreational Cricket Boards to support people impacted by this change in our regulations.

“We await updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and will study this carefully.

“We maintain that abuse or discrimination has no place in our sport and are committed to ensuring that cricket is played in a spirit of respect and inclusivity.”

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “The ECB’s two-tier policy was never coherent. Restricting the top end of the women’s game to female-only showed that it understood men’s size and strength confer an unfair advantage in women’s sport.

“But protecting around 300 women in England and Wales while leaving the other 33,000 female cricketers to face male bowling and batting was indefensible.”

Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity, has been contacted for comment.

Published: 02/05/2025 by Radio NewsHub