Why Cricket Has to Addressissue of Guidelines on Transplayers

Alison Mitchell cautions that the ICC must be ready to confront an issue that other sports have already been tackling.

In sport we often hear the phrase“if you’re good enough, you’re old enough”. In Australia this week there has been a strong case to apply the mantra, “if you’re good enough, you’re young enough,” because a 60-year-old has made a return to grade cricket in a bid to achieve her goal of playing in the Women’s Big Bash League.

The name Catherine (or Cate) McGregor won’t mean much to people in the UK, but she is well-known in Australia and is no ordinary 60-year-old. Cate McGregor is a transgender woman.

As a man, Malcolm McGregor, she worked in politics then journalism before rejoining the Australian Army and embarking on a high profile career which included serving in East Timor and becoming Lieutenant Colonel and speech writer to the Chief of Army David Morrison. Last year Morrison narrowly beat Cate to the national accolade of Australian of the Year.

McGregor was still in the army and had the support of the defence force when she began her transition in 2012. She returned to her job but retired from the military earlier this year and has maintained a high profile as a media voice on transgender issues and politics, counting former Prime Minister Tony Abbot as one of her closest friends.

She is passionate about cricket and uses her journalistic skills to write and broadcast on the game. She is a familiar, respected figure in the Australian cricket fraternity.

As a young man, McGregor was, by her own admission, a very good representative cricketer, playing schoolboy cricket for Queensland and club cricket in England. She is a left handed batter who bowls slow left arm orthodox. She stopped playing some 30 years ago though as gender dysphoria kicked in and alcohol issues ensued.