Transgender women barred from women's cricket in England and Wales

Transgender women have been banned from competing in all levels of women's cricket with immediate effect, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced.

In an update to its transgender regulations, the ECB said "only those whose biological sex is female" will be able to participate in women's and girls' cricket.

The ECB say transgender women and girls can continue playing in open and mixed cricket categories.

The policy change follows a UK Supreme Court ruling on 15 April which said the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

"Our regulations for recreational cricket have always aimed at ensuring that cricket remains as inclusive a sport as possible," the ECB said in a statement.

"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 ECB added that abuse and discrimination "has no place in our sport" and that it is committed to ensuring cricket is "played in a spirit of respect and inclusivity".

The decision follows an announcement from the English Football Association (FA) on Thursday that transgender women will no longer be able to participate in women's football in England from 1 June.

The ECB announced new transgender policy regulations in 2024, which stipulated that any player who had gone through male puberty was not eligible to feature in the top two tiers of the women's game.

The policy allowed transgender women to compete in the third tier of the domestic structure.

The regulations came after the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in November 2023 that transgender women who had gone through male puberty were banned from playing in international women's matches.

On Thursday, The Football Association became sport's first major governing body to amend its transgender eligibility criteria following the Supreme Court ruling.

Later in the day, England Netball also changed its guidelines by banning transgender women from its female category.

The new rules, which will apply from 1 September, recognise three distinct gender participation categories: female, male and mixed.

The female category would be "exclusively for players born female, irrespective of their gender identity", while mixed netball will "serve as the sport's inclusive category, allowing players to complete under the gender with which they identify".

The Ultimate Pool Group (UPG) - the professional body for eight-ball pool - banned transgender women from its female category last month.

Other governing bodies, including the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), are reassessing their transgender eligibility criteria.

Athletics, cycling and aquatics have implemented outright bans on transgender women taking part in women's events.

In 2022 British Triathlon became the first British sporting body to establish an open category in which transgender athletes can compete.