England and Wales Cricket Board bans transgender players from women’s cricket | Cricket News

The England and Wales Cricket Board on Friday banned transgender players from participating in women’s and girls’ matches. This announcement comes less than 24 hours after the English football association had also took a similar decision.
“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 ECB statement said.
“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,” the statement added.

ECB update on transgender participation in women’s cricket
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) May 2, 2025
On Thursday, the English FA had announced that transgender women will be barred from playing in women’s football in England from June 1. It comes on the back of the ruling from Britain’s supreme court that the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman. This decision is likely to affect 20 regered transgender players in England, and the FA said it would reach out to them to explain the changes.
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“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender which they identify, and we are contacting the regered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” the FA said.

It’s a U-turn in terms of their policy as just a month ago FA had said that transgender women can play in the women’s game as long as they kept their testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L for at least 12 months. But the recent advisory from the court has forced a change. Two days ago, the Scottish football association ruled that the transgender women can’t play in the women’s game from next season.