And cricket bans transwomen from the women's game too

[Apollo441]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/05/01/transgender-players-banned-womens-football-england-supreme/

Excellent news 👏

🎉🎉🎉🎉

So that's Football, Netball and Cricket all making announcements today? Has this been coordinated somehow?

Jolly good news.

I agree at elite level but at the most amateur cricket should be co ed in my opinion, too few opportunities for women to play currently. Make it all comers up to a certain level

https://archive.ph/MLEEu

That's a different argument though, surely? This ruling is about biological males being disallowed from women's teams.

In a mixed team, it doesn't matter whether a male player is playing as male or "female" (assuming the league doesn't have any specific rules on the minimim number of female players required in a mixed team, like there is in netball).

Helen Joyce often makes this point about her sisters, who are probably the best female cricketers Ireland has produced. They'll play with a men's team to get a game, because there are so few opportunities for female players. But that underrepresentation is also a big reason not to allow men into the women's game.

Yes I have mixed feelings on this too. To be equal and fair with the rulings on football and netball there would be separate men/mixed/female.

However, in cricket at the moment amongst teens, there aren’t enough good female players to run decent leagues in most places. In our club we have some fantastic female players (county level players) and they are part of the “boys” squad so they rotate into the “boys” team for matches, and get a pretty equal number of matches as the boys. If they were confined to just playing female teams they would get hardly any - if any - matches except when they play for the county. At this junior level they are better than some and equal to most of the boys. I accept that at county level and higher the strength etc of the boys means that single sex teams are appropriate.

It seems in this case therefore that girls/women would miss out. Unless the ECB allows mixed teams for competitive sub county matches. I honestly think this is what the female players would want. However, I do think that (some) of the boys would prefer to exclude the girls so they get more play themselves.

Once girls cricket is sufficiently mature, girls leagues will hopefully get established.

Good news 🤩

ECB has (and has always had, I think!) open cricket and female cricket. It didn’t need to let men into the women’s game as it was already inclusive (but did, obviously!)

So just 2 categories for cricket: female and open?

Which is different to the netball ruling.

Unless I'm missing something (I might be!) this ruling doesn't have any impact on women and girls playing in "normal" (ie male) teams? It's just saying that biological males can no longer compete in women's cricket teams at any level, including recreational.

Eta sorry I quoted the wrong post.

Well there has long been an argument for 'womens' and 'open' in sport. That way all those who want to participate / qualify can do so at their own risk, and women have their category preserved in terms of physical safety and fairness. Maybe that could be considered? I think even at lower levels the safety and fairness issues prevail for women. In reality, the mens category isn't likely to look much different at higher levels.

It doesn't prevent super talented women and girls from playing in boys' teams or mixed teams to stretch themselves. It restricts women's and girls' teams to women and girls.

Oh wow! Impressive coordination or coincidence

I reckon it is not a coincidence.
Safety in numbers, and less likely to get a backlash if looks like the house of cards is collapsing. Much more difficult for people to speak out against it without them looking like a lone voice

Someone (Ross Tucker? Helen Jouce?) said that the sport governing bodies were playing "chicken" - and if one went, they all would follow suit.

Hopefully the PDC will now follow.

The difference here between cricket and netball is that netball is a female dominated sport. Its lifeblood and history is women playing. It’s the men’s teams and leagues that are relatively young and undeveloped. Cricket needs female and open. Netball needs women’s and men’s.

Hat trick! FA, Netball and Cricket!

I am delighted. My teen dd is a very good cricketer who has had some county experience.

If she does play in a mixed team, she does so in the full knowledge that she will face teen boys who are very fast bowlers.

No girl or woman should be put into bat against a bowler who has gone through male puberty unless they explicitly choose to by choosing to play in mixed teams.

Maybe all grass roots clubs might now aim for parity in provision between the boys/men’s and girls/women’s teams. Same level of coaching, access to practice nets, match time…one can dream eh?

I am a bit confused by this. Can they legally have a women's team and a mixed team and no men's team? I wonder if the men could claim discrimination if the women have a single sex league/team and they don't?

Brilliant news to see THREE sports saying no 💪