LONDON — Transgender women have been barred from participating in women’s and girls’ cricket in both England and Wales, as per a recent announcement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). This decision follows a ruling from the U.K. Supreme Court last month, prompting the ECB to update its previous guidelines. With immediate effect, only individuals whose biological sex is female are now eligible to compete in women’s and girls’ cricket matches, the ECB declared. However, transgender women and girls can still participate in open and mixed cricket formats.
This announcement parallels a recent move by the Football Association to ban transgender athletes from women’s soccer teams in England and Scotland. Previously, transgender women were restricted from participating in the top two tiers of elite women’s cricket since the beginning of the year, though they were allowed to play in lower-level and recreational cricket. But now, even those opportunities have been removed.
Two weeks ago, the U.K.’s highest court issued a ruling defining a woman, for the purpose of anti-discrimination considerations, as someone who is biologically female from birth. Following this decision, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission declared that transgender women would be excluded from women-only spaces such as toilets, hospital wards, and sports teams. This ruling has been welcomed by some feminist groups, while it drew criticism from trans-rights organizations who argue it might have widespread adverse effects on daily life.
The subject remains polarizing not just in the U.K. but internationally, including in the United States, where former President Donald Trump signed executive orders aiming to exclude transgender athletes in sports by enforcing a strict biological definition of sex for federal purposes. These orders, however, face legal challenges.
Reacting to the cricket ban, Fiona McAnena from the charity Sex Matters noted that the ECB’s prior two-tier policy was inconsistent. “By limiting the elite levels of the women’s game to biological females, the ECB acknowledged that men hold physical advantages in sports,” she commented. “Yet, protecting about 300 women while leaving 33,000 others to contend against male players was indefensible.”
A spokesperson for Stonewall, a leading LGBTQ+ charity, expressed disappointment, emphasizing that the decisions to ban trans women from women’s sports were made pre-emptively, without fully considering the legal implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling or waiting for statutory guidance. They also highlighted that several sports bodies, which have taken this step, were long-time advocates for the Rainbow Laces campaign, supporting inclusivity in sports across all ages and levels.