The ECB has announced that transgender women who have gone through male puberty, will not be able to play in Tiers 1 and 2 of its new competition for women's county and the women's Hundred. This would place the ECB on the same footing as the International Cricket Council, which brought its rules regarding transgender women playing the sport at the start of 2023 up to date. In a statement, the ECB admitted the issue on transgender is "a very complex area," adding that "it's impossible to balance all the considerations," although it opted to base its conclusion on the safety of the players at the top level. It will be in force from 2025, prior to the start of women's home cricket, and thus align cricket in England with sports in the rest of the United Kingdom, such as swimming, cycling, athletics, rugby league, and rugby union. The policy will not cover grassroots cricket or Tier 3 of the county competition. Tier 3 is intended to incorporate teams from the ECB's national counties and may accommodate promotion and relegation from 2029. In a statement, the board said: "Considerable time has been taken to reach this policy position. The ECB recognises that transgender participation is a complex area, with many strongly held views, and it is impossible to balance all the considerations." The ECB had previously granted permission to play in professional clubs and England pathway teams for any player who self-identified themselves as female with written clearance. Also Read | India Women Squad for 3 ODIs Against New Zealand Announced The ICC also brought some rule change on its end in November 2023 following a nine-month consultation period. It was strictly for the maintenance of fair play, security, and integrity in women's cricket. One of the examples from the players include Canada's Danielle McGahey, who played for the team at the ICC Women's T20 Americas Qualifier in September 2023, stating her cricket career was finished upon the implementation of the new rule. The ECB declared that it, following consultations with diverse opinions and evidence from science, had to align domestic professional women's cricket to the approach pursued by the ICC in order to maintain consistency for the development of international players. The ECB added: "Having considered wide-ranging views gathered during the consultation, as well as in consultations conducted during 2023, and the relevant science and medical evidence, the ECB has decided that from 2025 it will adopt the same approach as the ICC for women's professional domestic cricket. This provides consistency, given that a primary purpose of the top end of the domestic structure is to produce international players. "The detailed policy will now be developed over the coming months, in consultation with stakeholders, and is due to be formally in place in time for the 2025 domestic season. It will apply to Tiers 1 and 2 of the new women's domestic structure from 2025, as well as the Hundred women's competition."