For Danielle McGahey, Anaya Bangar’s fight to keep her cricketing dream alive carries a familiar weight.
Nearly three years after becoming the first transgender cricketer to play in an official international match, McGahey saw her own international career brought to an end by an ICC rule change. Now, as Cricket Australia clears a pathway for Bangar to pursue elite women’s cricket from March 2027, McGahey has chosen to stand firmly behind her.
“I want to express my full support for Anaya. I’m incredibly proud of her for continuing to pursue the sport she loves while facing an enormous amount of public scrutiny,” McGahey told India Today in an exclusive interview.
McGahey represented Canada before the ICC ruling ended her international career. Her experience has given her a personal connection to the scrutiny surrounding Bangar, who can play Premier Cricket in Australia in the interim before becoming eligible for elite cricket, subject to the relevant requirements.
A NEW CHAPTER AWAITS IN AUSTRALIA
For Bangar, Cricket Australia’s decision offers something that has been missing for a long time: a pathway back to competitive cricket.
Her potential journey could take her from Premier Cricket to elite domestic cricket and, eventually, the Women’s Big Bash League. But eligibility does not guarantee selection or a contract.
Her case also highlights the different approaches taken by cricket’s governing bodies. Cricket Australia uses a testosterone-based eligibility framework for domestic competitions, while the ICC has stricter regulations for international cricket.
Under the ICC’s current policy, transgender women who have experienced male puberty are not eligible to play international women’s cricket, regardless of surgery or gender reassignment treatment. The policy was approved in November 2023 following a nine-month consultation process.
MCGAHEY CHALLENGES THE ASSUMPTIONS
McGahey believes the discussion around transgender participation should be grounded in research rather than assumptions about transgender athletes.
“My position remains very clear: trans women are women, and trans women belong in women’s sport. After years of gender-affirming hormone therapy, the physiological picture is very different from what is often portrayed in public debate.
“Research has shown substantial reductions in strength, muscle mass and other performance-related measures following hormone therapy, with a number of measures moving toward or becoming comparable with cisgender female ranges over time. These conversations deserve to be based on evidence rather than assumptions about transgender bodies.”
Her comments come as Bangar’s eligibility continues to generate debate among players and supporters of the women’s game. South Africa international Marizanne Kapp has publicly criticised Cricket Australia’s decisioncalling it “absolutely ridiculous”.
The contrasting positions reflect the wider challenge facing sporting bodies as they navigate questions of inclusion, competitive fairness and eligibility.
A CAREER THAT FELL APART ABRUPTLY
For McGahey, the debate is not an abstract one. She has lived through its consequences.
The Australian-born cricketer moved to Canada and made history in September 2023 when she became the first transgender player to feature in an official international cricket match, making her T20I debut against Brazil.
She went on to play six T20Is for Canada, scoring 118 runs at an average of 19.66, with a highest score of 48.
At the time, McGahey had been deemed eligible under the ICC’s existing transgender participation criteria. But on November 21, 2023, the governing body approved new regulations barring transgender women who had experienced male puberty from international women’s cricket.
McGahey’s international career was consequently over.
“With a very heavy heart, I must say that my international cricketing career is over,” she said at the time.
The decision brought a sudden end to the international journey of a player who had made history only months earlier.
A PLEA FOR DIGNITY
That experience has shaped McGahey’s response to the scrutiny surrounding Bangar.
“What has been particularly disappointing for me is seeing Anaya subjected to much of the same ridicule, hostility and dehumanising commentary that I experienced three years ago. It is incredibly disheartening to see how little some parts of the public conversation appear to have moved forward, particularly when our medical and scientific understanding of transgender people continues to develop.”
McGahey said disagreement over sporting regulations should never become an excuse for personal attacks.
“But beyond the sporting and scientific debate, I think it is important to remember that Anaya is a human being who is simply trying to live her life and pursue her career in cricket. Personal attacks, ridicule and dehumanising commentary are completely inappropriate.
“Whatever someone’s opinion on sporting regulations may be, there is no justification for attacking someone personally, and those words can have very real consequences for the person on the receiving end of them.
“I hope that as this discussion continues, people can remember the human being at the centre of it and treat Anaya with the dignity and respect she deserves.”
For Bangar, the immediate focus is on the cricket field — on returning, rebuilding and earning her place through performance.
For McGahey, however, Bangar’s journey is also a reminder of a battle she knows all too well: what it means to keep pursuing the sport you love when your eligibility, identity and future are being debated far beyond the boundary.
– Ends
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