Transgender Cricketers In Women's Team (Image source: Anaya Bangar)
Anaya Bangar is preparing her return to competitive cricket in Australia, with Cricket Australia (CA) offering her a route to pursue elite-level cricket, including the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), subject to its policy requirements.
Speaking about the news, in an Instagram reel, Anaya expressed hope that her case could contribute to more informed conversations about transgender athletes in sports and to more responsible approaches to questions about them.
Trans inclusion in sports has been a contentious topic for a long time, mainly because of the advantages a biological man can have in the women’s game even after transitioning.
After years of confusion about her identity, her eligibility to play competitive cricket as a transgender has indeed come as good news for the community. That being said, in this article, we have compiled a list of transgender in women’s cricket.
But before that, take a look at what the ICC Rules suggest regarding the same.
What do ICC Rules say about transgenders participating in women’s international cricket?
The apex governing body of world cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC), shifted from an inclusive, testosterone-based threshold to a complete restriction for transgender women in international women’s matches.
Before the 2023 amendment, the ICC required transgender women to show decreased levels of testosterone for a yearlong period and sign a “written and signed declaration” that the athlete’s gender identity is female.
The ICC’s regulations were similar to the International Olympic Committee’s policy, which suggests there is no assumption that transgender women would have an “unfair and disproportionate advantage” over other athletes.
Also read: ICC Announces Major Rule Changes, Pink Ball Usage Approved In Red Ball Tests
A decision to restrict transgender women from competing in international cricket matches comes two months after Canadian Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to play in an international match in September 2023.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not established clear rules or regulations governing transgender players.
1) Danielle McGahey - Australian-born Canadian cricketer
In 2023, Danielle McGahey became the first transgender player to feature in international cricket after being named in Canada’s squad for the Women’s T20 Americas Qualifier, the pathway tournament to the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The batter is originally from Australia but moved to Canada in 2020. According to publicly available information, McGahey socially transitioned from male to female in 2020, before undergoing a medical transition a few months later in 2021.
In August 2023, the ICC confirmed that McGahey had fulfilled the eligibility criteria for a male-to-female (MTF) transition to play international cricket.
During the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier, McGahey scored 118 runs across six matches for Canada.
However, after a nine-month consultation process with the sport’s stakeholders, the ICC finalised a new policy that prohibited McGahey from participating in women's international matches. This followed a key change to ICC’s gender eligibility regulations.
The former ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said: "Inclusivity is incredibly important to us as a sport, but our priority was to protect the integrity of the international women's game and the safety of players."
Thus, McGahey’s international career was cut short to six games.
2) Maxine Blythin - English Domestic Cricketer
The Kent Cricket County Club is one of the most historic cricket clubs in England. Kent won the 2019 Women’s County Championships, led by their transgender cricketer Maxine Blythin.
Her performances led Kent to the County Championship, and she was deemed the 2019 Kent Women’s Player of the Year.
Nonetheless, Maxine was looked at as an outsider in the women’s game because she was born a boy and transitioned her gender as a teenager.
Blythin’s win as Kent’s women’s player of the year didn’t get a lot of attention at first. However, tweets like the ones made by media personalities like Katie Hopkins stirred the issue and caused Blythin to receive a lot of hate online.
However, adopting the ICC's gender eligibility regulations, amended in 2023, the England Cricket Board (ECB) excluded transgender women who have gone through male puberty from Tiers 1 and 2 of the ECB's new women's county competition, as well as the women's Hundred.
This made Blythin ineligible to play women’s domestic and international cricket.
3) Anaya Bangar - Daughter of former India cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar
Former Mumbai U-19 cricketer Aryan, now Anaya Bangar, has resumed her cricket career after undergoing gender-affirming surgery in March, following clearance to play women's community cricket in Australia.
Born in Mumbai, Anaya played for the Mumbai age-group side alongside India cricketer Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer Khan, before deciding on the gender-affirming surgery.
Anaya’s father Sanjay Bangar is a former India all-rounder who played 12 Tests and 15 ODIs for the national team between 2001 and 2004. Post-retirement, Sanjay served as the India batting coach under then head coach Ravi Shastri. He also helped Virat Kohli overcome a lean patch in batting.
As of August 27, 2026, Anaya Bangar has received confirmation from Cricket Australia that she will be eligible to participate in elite women’s cricket in Australia from March 2027.
Bangar shared pictures of the official statement on her social media account, marking a significant step in her bid to return to competitive cricket.
Also read: List Of Teams Who Have Won A Test After Conceding A Follow On In Tests
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