Here's all you need to know about Danielle McGahey, first-ever transgender to appear in international cricket

In a revolutionary piece of news for cricket fans, Canada is all set to include the first transgender cricketer Danielle McGahey in their national squad of women’s tea. She will be representing Canada in the upcoming 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier, which is set to be hosted by Bangladesh.

McGahey successfully completed the eligibility criteria of cricket’s governing body for male-to-female transgender cricketers followed by her inclusion in Canada’s squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 qualifier. The 29-year-old cricketer will be in the role of an opening batter for the Canadian side in the tournament.

The qualifying tournament for the global qualifiers will be played in Los Angeles from the 4^th of September to the 11^th of September. Canada will be participating in the tournament, alongside three other teams including the likes of Argentina, Brazil, and the United States in the Americas Quailifer.

Notably, McGahey left Australia in 2020’s February to pursue her dreams in Canada; later, she began her transition from a man to a woman in November 2020 following the medical transformation in the succeeding year 2021.

"To be able to represent my community is something I never dreamed I would be able to do." - Danielle McGahey

McGahey herself expressed her happiness on being included in the national squad of Canada women’s side. She said that it is a moment of honour for her to represent one of the sidelined communities in the world.

"I am absolutely honoured. To be able to represent my community is something I never dreamed I would be able to do," said McGahey as quoted by BBC Sport.

"In order to determine (my testosterone levels), I've been doing blood tests every month now for over two years. I also have to put in my player profile who I have played against and how many runs I've scored," she added later.

Apart from this, cricket’s governing body also issued an official statement after permitting Danielle McGahey to become the first transgender ever to make an appearance in international cricket.

"We can confirm that Danielle went through the process as required under the player eligibility regulations and as a result has been deemed eligible to participate in international women's cricket on the basis that she satisfies the MTF transgender eligibility criteria." Reads the official statement from cricket’s governing body.